GRUNDY, Va. — Southern Gap Elk Fest drew a crowd of more than 1,300 over three days as the fourth annual event concluded Saturday at the Southern Gap Visitor Center.
Activities included guided elk tours, bonfire storytelling, a mountain arts showcase, an ATV Sasquatch hunt, mountain games, kids inflatable rides, trout pond fishing, a petting zoo, hay rides, chain saw carving and blacksmithing demonstrations and pumpkin painting, according to a written statement.
Attendees also got to enjoy music as Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys headlined the music Saturday night. Local band, Bad Ridge, opened for Stanley.
“We could not have asked for more beautiful fall weather during this year’s Elk Fest,” said Billie Campbell, co-owner of Southern Gap Outdoor Adventure, the host site for the annual event. “The mountains were ablaze with color, the elk were bugling, the temperatures were moderate and the participation we had in our various events was great.
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We can’t acknowledge our sponsors enough as without their support, there is absolutely no way we could put on an event like this and offer it free to the public.”
The overall Elk Fest event was made possible by Buchanan County Tourism, Southern Gap Outdoor Adventure, SWVA Sportsmen and the SWVA Coalfields Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Additional sponsors included Noah Horn Well Drilling; the Boys and Girls Club of Central Appalachia; CNX Foundation; Coronado Coal; BEAST Equipment; Southwest Virginia Professional Insurance; West River Conveyors; Legacy Bank; the Buchanan County Chamber of Commerce; Grundy Woman’s Club; Heart of Appalachia; Spearhead Trails; and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.
The festival fun started Thursday with the sold-out wild game dinner hosted by the Buchanan County Chamber of Commerce. Wild game dishes served included a meatball safari, elk egg roll, wild boar baby back ribs and buffalo meatloaf.
The Mountain Arts Showcase, sponsored by Legacy Bank, drew multiple entries. The Best in Show Award and Fan Favorite award went to Ricky Beverly for his sketch of an elk. Beverly also won first place in the adult division visual arts. Second place went to Michael Stilwell.
In the junior visual arts category, Hannah Baker won first place; and Kyleigh Hurley, won second place; and in the youth visual arts category, Kennedi Ratliff won first place; and Cage Church won second place.
In the 3-D arts division, Michael Stillwell won first place and Isaac Hylton won second place in the adult category. In the junior category, Kailyn Castle won first place; and in the youth division, Dacen Anglin won first place.
Photography winners were Isaac Hylton, first and Larry Keene, second, in the adult division. Kaitlyn Castle, first, in the junior division; and Cheyenne Smith, first, in the youth division.
“We look forward to planning the fifth annual Elk Fest in 2024,” Campbell said. “Mark your calendars for the end of October next year and we’ll see you here at the Gap.”
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