June 9th-10th, 2023 in Downtown Weston, WV
The Weston Carp Fest is back and with more events for the whole family! Join us for the kickoff evening on Friday night for music, food, games and capped off with a lawn movie!
Saturday will bring a full day of fishing, weigh-in prizes, food trucks, craft vendors, and fun activities in downtown Weston. There is no cost for admission to the event or for food trucks & vendors to set up!
Map of all the event locations (if not noted, it will be at Holt Park next to Glass Museum):
Special events and features this year are:
Carp Fishing Tournament The carp fishing tournament will begin at 5pm on Friday and last until 4pm on Saturday. The heaviest carp alive (but dead will be accepted with a 1lb penalty) will win the prize of a lifetime fishing license courtesy of LLRG Real Estate. No bowfishing and all must register to compete for the prize. Shoot, get the t-shirt too! See below for an entry form as pre-registration is encouraged.
Friday Fun Night Added to this year's festivities, Friday night will have the opening of the festival and feature bouncy houses, live music, vendors, food and more. Lawn games brought to you by Lewis County Blueprint and Weston Cultural Center's Fun 2 Go will also be present. A family friendly lawn movie with popcorn provided by Shentel will conclude the evening. Fish weigh-ins will begin on the hour and last until the conclusion of the lawn movie.
Free Pancake Breakfast A free pancake breakfast will be held 8-10am at the Museum of American Glass in WV on Saturday morning for anyone who's at the Carp Festival. The breakfast has been sponsored by the Coffeehouse and the Glass Museum. Local maple syrup from Boone's Maple Syrup will also be present. Those eating are asked to contribute a donation for the meal. Proceeds will go the Louis Bennett Library, Lewis County's lone public library.
Kayak Race and Float Starting at 9am Saturday, participants will be set off on a mad dash for Jackson's Mill. The winner of the race has a $100 gift card from McFly's Outdoors waiting on them. Those interested in a more leisurely float will be released shortly after to make the same journey to the Mill boat ramp. A free ride back to town will be brought to you by WVU Jackson's Mill.
Plant Swap Smoke Camp Crafts is hosting a community plant swap. Bring your plants and starts to the gathering at Holt Park at 10am on Saturday for some good ol' fashion trading!!
History Alive! Join the Weston Historic Landmarks Commission is hosting a living history performance where Nellie Bly will be brought to life and answer questions about her feigned insanity and award winning journalism about her experience in an insane asylum. You don't want to miss this performance in Holt Park!
Weston 5K Race the 13th annual road race will take you on a loop through the historic downtown of Weston. There will be both a race and a kiddie fun run. Race starts at 10am sharp! To register reach out to our sponsors Mon Health Stonewall Jackson on webscorer.com with RACE ID 306048.
Walk This Way Story Walk Ribbon Cutting The unveiling of the "Life in Lewis" photo exhibition at Louis Bennett Library brought to you by Lewis County Blueprint and the Weston Cultural Center. The ribbon cutting will be held at 1130am on Saturday. Feel free to walk to the library and Willow Park to see these locally inspired displays tell the story of Life in Lewis!
2nd Annual Marble Shootout brought to you by Roshell's Antiques, the shootout will occur at Holt Park at 3pm. Come get your marble on! No keepsies except the winner gets some antique marbles courtesy of our sponsors!!
Raingutter Regatta and River Race Brought to you again for the 2nd year by Darby's Seamless Gutters and Ember Arts, those interested in testing their engineering and wind power mettle can sign up to paint a boat for racing in this year's Raingutter Regatta tournament. Participants will receive a balsa wood boat and race the boats in gutters to see who is the fastest. Those wishing to also participate can have their boat released in the river for a random race to see who comes out the fastest for a prize as well!!
Slate Auction for the Cultural Center Restoration Artists from all over the great state of West Virginia have submitted artwork on salvage slate from the Columbia Club building roof in Weston. These fantastic works of art will be on display at Ember Arts throughout the weekend with an online auction for the pieces concluding on Saturday, June 10th at 8pm. The proceeds from the sale will go to the continuing of the restoration of the former Columbia Club and future Weston Cultural Center. The hope is enough funds will be raised to begin the restoration of the stained glass windows. Special thanks to Ember Arts and Alden Butcher Auctioneer for their sponsorship.
More information:
Each year, the WV Division of Natural Resources allows you to fish without purchasing a fishing license on the Second Saturday & Sunday of June. The Carp Festival is being held during an annual "WV FREE FISHING DAY".
The full Schedule of Events, link to the Registration Form, registration/tshirt order form, and more info can be found at on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/CarpFestWeston
https://cityofwestonwv.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2023-Carp-Fest-Event-Schedule.jpg
Save time by downloading the Carp Festival Registration Form and dropping it off before June 9th at the Weston City Building or by bringing it to Holt Park at the registration table on Friday at 5pm when fishing opens.
Registration Form:
ANOTHER SPECIAL THANKS to our sponsors for bringing this event to our downtown district!!
LLRG Real Estate
McFly's Outdoors
Darby’s Seamless Gutters
Roshell's Antiques
Ember Arts
Museum of American Glass in WV
Bane Board Company
Lewis County Blueprint
Weston Historic Landmark Commission
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
Watson Trucking
This is a special event brought to you by the City of Weston's Board of Parks & Recreation.
For questions or to sign up for free to be a vendor, please email [email protected]