Festival fire dancers perform into the night
Campground has giant bubble playtime
Light, music and dance entertains event goers
Photos by Margaret Smith Volkwein
Story by Margaret Smith Volkwein
A weekend festival drew a regional crowd to the newly opened Alderwood Campground on Grannyshee Road near Walnut, a few miles from State Rt. 16 at Chloe.
West Virginia event promoter Terry Silver Owl, who organized the weekend event, has done similar events near Morgantown. The vendors did a brisk business despite the brief afternoon shower Saturday, with lots of good food, musicians, and dancers.
Seven bands entertained the crowd from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning.
The audience got together and created a fire dancer troupe, a giant bubble event, a drum circle with belly dancers and hoopers, with folk rock and alternative folk fusion, all headline acts from the tri-state area.
"This place is more scenic and more room for events. This kind of thing takes a lot of work, year after year, takes a lot of people support. We want to present a variety of entertainment, maybe get into some folk festivals, some old time crafts demonstrations, drum circles, workshops. We want something that Calhoun County can be proud of," said co-owner Mark Edwards.
Mark and Sabrina Edwards, their children, and eight other workers have been laboring on the family campground since last September.
Campsites are in little wooded glades with a large camping area in the open. RVs can stop at the bottom of the hill, but the tent sites are open.
The new stage stands at the head of a natural amphitheater.
"This was a bare hill," co-owner Sabrina Edwards says. Flowers grow in little rock beds. Big rocks and logs provide seating. Co-owner Mark Edwards says, "We took the best features from the best festival grounds to make the ultimate campground."
Sabrina adds, "We put everything we had into this place. We want to make it a place for people to bring their families, where everyone can camp, listen to music and get together to have fun."
Future events can be found on the website alderwoodcamp.com
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