Plans For Frost Fest Begin To Take Shape

Frost, WV – Almost two dozen people gathered at the Mountain Quest Institute earlier this week to discuss plans for the first annual Frost Fest celebration, scheduled for this fall. The festival will run in conjunction with Huntersville Traditions Day in hopes of drawing more tourists to the area the first weekend of October. Andy Dean, webmaster for Mountain Quest, says the institute will have limited involvement in the festival.

“We’re going to do a corn maze and we’re going to do a pumpkin patch” says Dean. “Beyond that, there’s not much that we’re going to be doing. We want the whole community to participate and possibly take over some of these activities.”

He explains why this festival will run the same weekend as Huntersville.

“We’re going to kind of advertise for them, hopefully bring in a lot of business that they probably haven’t seen in the past” he says. “And hopefully we’ll get some of their people as well.”

Organizers of the Frost Fest are hoping that tourists will visit Huntersville, and then travel up Route 92 to Frost and vice versa. They also stress that they don’t want to compete with events at Huntersville, but to enhance the success of both festivals. The combined festivals could provide entertainment all weekend, with events at Huntersville beginning on Friday night, events at both locations on Saturday, and the Frost Fest continuing on Sunday.

While Huntersville Traditions focuses on Appalachian culture and heritage, the Frost Fest is intended as more of a traditional autumn festival with activities spread throughout the Frost area.
Some activities are already in the planning stages, such as a corn maze, pumpkin patch, and hay rides. Other ideas being discussed include a cake walk, arts and crafts vendors, a pageant, and a possible Saturday evening concert at Mountain Quest.

Dean says at least two things are definitely in place. They’ve received confirmation of a $3000.00 grant to pay for advertising for both festivals. He says they will most likely put all of that into brochures, flyers and other advertising in markets such as Roanoke, Clarksburg and Charleston to draw in as many people as possible.

Denise Campbell, Pocahontas County House of Delegates representative, will be on hand for the ribbon cutting to open the Frost Fest. It was suggested that perhaps Delegate Bill Hartman and Senator Walt Helmick might also be encouraged to participate.

The group will meet again on Monday, June 13th to discuss and solidify which activities they wish to pursue for the first annual Frost Fest. For more information on getting involved, you can contact the Mountain Quest Institute at 304-799-7267.