81st Preston County Buckwheat Festival brings unique flavors to NCWV

The theme for the festival this year is “Born Among West Virginia Hills,” said Preston County Buckwheat Festival Chairman Harry Hayes.

“We’re really trying to show appreciation to the state and the scenic environment we all enjoy,” Hayes said.

This will be the first year the festival will feature live music throughout the weekend, including many bands and musicians local to the Mountain State, including Tucker Kniesell, Clay Justice and Moonlight Drive, which all hail from Preston County.

There will also be a karaoke event Thursday night and an open mic slot at noon Sunday for “anyone who wants to showcase their talents on the stage,” Hayes said.

Headlining the event will be the Davisson Brothers Band and the Mikele Buck Band, who both got their start among the hills we all call home.

Although the festival has grown to include live music and carnival rides, the celebration of buckwheat and the local farming community has remained at the heart of the festival generations later.

The Buckwheat Festival began before the United States had any involvement in the Second World War.

When the festival debuted in 1938, Preston County was one of the largest producers of buckwheat in the world, Hayes said.

Buckwheat was grown as an insurance crop or one that was a secondary option if the main crop didn’t make it. Buckwheat was grown because it is very resilient and is not affected much by the climate, making it a crop people could depend on year after year, Hayes said.

Buckwheat cakes have a semi-bitter flavor relative to standard flapjacks and are often enjoyed with maple syrup and butter, but applesauce is also a popular topping served at the festival.

Buckwheat cake dinners are served with Preston County-raised pork sausage and are available all festival long.

The Buckwheat Festival holds three parades: The Firemen’s Parade on Thursday night, the School Day Parade Friday afternoon, and the Farmer’s Day Parade on Saturday.

School-age children across Preston County get out of school early on Thursday with no class scheduled for Friday so families across the county can enjoy the School Day Festival on Friday.

The School Day Parade includes participation from many local and county school sports teams and bands for a parade that “really celebrates the youth in the community,” Hayes said.

The festival includes many attractions to those visiting, including a carnival midway with rides, games and concessions, livestock shows and arts and crafts vendors.

The festival also features the coronation of the festival Queen Ceres and King Buckwheat who have already spent the summer representing the fair in other parades across the state.

Queen Ceres Autumn Wolfe and King Buckwheat Carson Stone have ridden in seven parades throughout the state to promote the Preston County Buckwheat Festival, Wolfe and Stone said.

“It means a lot [to me to represent the Buckwheat Festival,] and a lot of younger kids look up to me from different organizations,” Stone said.

Members of the Buckwheat Festival Royalty Court donated 15 pallets of food to the Mountaineer Food Bank Mobile, which went on to provide hundreds of meals to families in need around Preston County.

Buckwheat Festival court members were chosen after a interview process that included farm visits and judges from outside the county, Hayes said.

Both Wolfe’s and Stone’s mothers were Queen Ceres, in 1988 and 1998 respectively.

Wolfe and Stone also both participate in the livestock shows each year. Wolfe has shown hogs for seven years and Stone won Market Steer Grand Champion at the festival last year for his main Angus cross that weighed 1,357 pounds, Stone said.