SUMMERSVILLE, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – This weekend, the City of Summersville will host the 51st Annual Nicholas County Potato Festival- an event that celebrates potatoes, friends and neighbors. The event was not held last year because of COVID-19.
Between Friday, September 10, and Saturday, September 11, Main Street and Broad Street in downtown Summerville will become the home of various potato-related events, including a potato display and auction, a spud hunt, a potato sack race, a mashed potato eating contest, potato idol and more. There are also plenty of non-potato-related activities to take part in.
Marianne Taylor, Executive Director of the Summersville Arena and Conference Center, who helped the city coordinate the event, spoke of the importance of celebrating the potato. While it is a simple root vegetable to some, to Nicholas County, the potato is a symbol of its agricultural history.
“That is what our festival is: the potato festival. We definitely want to continue to incorporate the potato into what we do. That is what we are celebrating, so we try to find events that revolve around potatoes.”
Taylor gave a brief history of Nicholas County’s potato farming, stating that, at one time, the industry was incredibly popular. So popular, that in 1969 the county dedicated an entire festival to the crop.
“This got started because of the importance of the potato farmer. It was the livelihood of the county agriculture-wise,” she said. “We want to continue that even though potato farming is not as prevalent as it used to be. We continue to celebrate that history.”
Celebrating Nicholas County’s history isn’t just important to the county or the City of Summersville but to its residents who look forward to the event each year.
“Every year, the community is excited. They look forward to it. There isn’t one event that is more popular than the other because people just enjoy coming and watching all the events and the grand parade.”
According to Taylor, although they have to number the participants at each contest, festival-goers gather around to watch each event and offer their support.
“It’s such a great way to bring people together and to see friends that they haven’t seen in a while. Neighbors are coming out and seeing the celebration and it also brings in people from around the state that have heard about the festival and are interested in what it’s all about. Once they come, they usually come back again.”
Summersville Mayor Rob Shafer expressed his excitement for the festival, stating that it will be a great opportunity to honor 52 years of history.
“We, like any community, seize the opportunity to have a celebration and bring folks together. In all reality, it wasn’t here until recently that we really started to grab ahold of our history and start to reinforce some aspects of our festival that we had let slip away,” he said. “I think that we are very blessed and have an incredible committee that works almost year-round to pull this event off. If you’ve never been, it’s a great time.”
Because the event falls on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Shafer shared that in addition to its regular events, the festival will also be paying respect to current first responders, as well as those involved with 9/11.
The Nicholas County Potato Festival will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday.
While the event is taking place outside, Taylor said the city is still taking all the necessary precautions to protect festivalgoers from COVID-19. Sanitization and masking stations will be set up in various locations. There will also be a masking zone for those who want to isolate themselves from those not wearing masks, and rides will be wiped down routinely. The City of Summersville asks that those who are not feeling well stay home.
Learn more about the Nicholas County Potato Festival and its schedule here.