Fly In Festival Offers Unique W.Va. Experiences

People will arrive at this weekend’s Fly In Festival by car, bike, boat or airplane.

The event offers music, camping combined with West Virginia culture and history. While you’re at it, you can kayak or take your first skydive.

Fly In Festival promoter and musician Tim Corbett said up to 30 attendees are expected to arrive by plane at the 7th annual event at Cabell County’s Robert Newlon Airpark. He said they will land their planes and begin what they call ‘underwing camping.”

“They’ll have a pop up tent or something in their plane,” Corbett said. “They fly in, park their plane, pitch their tent underneath the wing, hence the term underwing camping.”

Just five miles out of Huntington off Route 2,the airpark is the home to the West Virginia Skydivers Center.

“They’ll give you a little lesson, take you up and do a tandem jump with you,” Corbett said. “If you’re an adrenaline junkie, you can fly.”

The airpark is on the Ohio River. Festival goers can take guided kayak float trips, and some do come in by boat.

“We’ve got a beautiful beach area on the Ohio River,” Corbett said. “You can anchor your boat or beach your boat. And there’s a beautiful set of stairs coming up right into the festival.”

The Fly In Festival offers a weekend of fiddle and flatpick guitar contests in the mornings. In the afternoons and evenings, award winning bluegrass artists like Don Rigsby and the Lonesome River Band join legendary Mountain State roots musicians like mandolin master Johnny Staats and guitar champion Robert Shafer.

“We focus on West Virginia culture, West Virginia history. This is the only grass runway airport in the state,” Corbett said. “We try to keep a good regional base of our West Virginia artists. If you can’t enjoy yourself at the Flt In Festival, then you just can’t enjoy yourself.”

Click here for information on Fly In Festival directions, stage schedules, on-site camping, music contests, skydiving and the Ohio River Paddle Float.