KINGWOOD, W.Va. — Preston County is prepared for its annual fall tradition.
The Buckwheat Festival, beginning Sept. 27, has been a part of the community for 77 years.
The festival celebrates the farming tradition of buckwheat in Preston County with a plethora of activities — including carnival rides on the fair grounds — at 12 p.m Thursday.
Despite weather conditions expected to be a little chilly, Darla Moyers of the Buckwheat Festival said it shouldn’t hinder any of the weekend’s activities.
“Yes it’s looking like, maybe a little cool, maybe a sprinkle here and there, but yes, I think the weather is going to be just like we call it ‘Buckwheat Festival Weather,” Moyers said on WAJR’s Morgantown AM.
The festival will kick off with a buckwheat cake and sausage breakfast, which will start each day’s festivities throughout the weekend. There are more than two and a half tons of buckwheat flour, along with more than 10,000 pounds of sausage meat and 140 boxes of syrup, milk, and butter for the buckwheat cake and sausage dinners, in preparation for festival-goers.
“Thursday, everything pretty much opens up at 12 noon,” Moyers said. “The arts and crafts, carnival rides, we have bingo on the fairgrounds. And then Thursday night is our fireman’s parade at 7:30.”
Not only will the festivities continue into Friday, there will be traditional contests taking place. Along with the dairy showmanship contest taking place in the morning, there will be the crowning of the Festival’s Queen Ceres and King Buckwheat along with a beef showmanship contest in the evening. This will be capped off by fireworks later in the evening.
“And we have the coronation of Queen Ceres and King Buckwheat at twelve noon, the school day parade starts at two o’clock and then we’re bringing back fireworks Friday night at ten o’clock,” said Moyers.
Saturday will bring a special guest to Preston County to help open the Farmer’s Day Parade. WVU’s marching band — The Pride of West Virginia — will perform during the parade and on the Preston County High School football field shortly after the parade’s conclusion.
“It’s going to be awesome to see them march,” Moyers said. “If you’ve never seen them march in a parade you’ve got to see that, it is just awesome.”
The festival will conclude on Sunday with multiple contests, including an early morning Antique, Rod and Custom Car assemble, Irish Road Bowling and a $10,000 cash giveaway near the conclusion of the festival.
The festival concludes Sunday.