Fancy Free Cloggers paid a visit to our West Virginia “sister team” to perform at the 2019 Mothman Festival. Many thanks to Riverside Cloggers for inviting us to share this fun show with you!

Never heard of the Mothman Festival? This event is unique to the town of Point Pleasant, WV, home to the world’s only Mothman Museum. Click to find posts about the festival from 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Paid parking at nearby Krodel Park approached capacity by midmorning Saturday. Word is out about this cool festival! Don’t bother waiting in the shuttle line if you can walk the distance to Main Street; enjoy this mural, chuckle at the name “Piggly Wiggly” as you stroll past the grocery store, and try to cross the street with folks pushing strollers. Traffic will stop for a stroller. For me, not so much.

When I entered the festival area, this delightful young man greeted me and said he was happy to see me again. While he seemed familiar, I COULD NOT place his face. I have zero game at faking these things, so I ‘fessed up and asked who he was.

I get a photo and chat with this old friend every year! I’m just accustomed to seeing him as a fellow redhead:

Seth’s lovely lady friend is afraid of clowns, so he kept the mask in his backpack to walk around the festival with her. Chivalry is not dead.

Perks of arriving early? Sights like this! It takes time and hard work to inflate the enormous Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and secure him in an upright position. Who ya gonna call? The Ghostbusters-West Virginia Division! These folks happily posed for photos with festival attendees, donating the proceeds to charity. Mothman Festival donations went towards the Christmas toy drive for the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia.

Every business has a special “Mothman” product for sale at the festival. Mothman apple butter, Mothman paintings, Mothman tee shirts, Mothman candles. Even the local Mexican restaurant plays the game with a Mothman burrito you can wash down with a Mothman margarita (jumbo, of course), and finish it off with a Mothman chimichanga. Why not?

Many artists at the festival sell items (stickers, tee shirts, posters, etc.) portraying the Flatwoods Monster and Mothman as friends. It felt fitting to attend the presentation by the Flatwoods Monster Museum’s curator.

Now I need to plan a trip to the Flatwoods Monster Museum. Sounds like a great activity for the next time my nephew visits from Florida.

Fancy Free Cloggers’ newest member loved the free mask! He loved the Ghostbusters even more.

As showtime drew near, we received spotty reports (Cell service unreliable here. Coincidence?) of cloggers from both teams stuck in traffic and worried they might not arrive in time. No worries! If all else fails, we’ll put little Jason Lee (son of Erica, director of Riverside Cloggers) on the mic to babble about his first Mothman Festival. The audience will be powerless against this cuteness!

Both Erica and I clogged with this lovely lady for years with the Midnight Cloggers and the Rock-n-Country Cloggers. We loved having Melanie in the audience!

Traffic and a time mix-up left both teams missing dancers at the start of the show. FFC’s youngest members served as substitute freestylers in Riverside’s opening number. We adjusted the show order as needed, and everything worked out.

Evie’s late arrival had no effect on her duo game. You can’t even see her, she is so perfectly aligned with Eliza!

Riverside Cloggers were prepared to dance “All Night Long” (yes, this is the Jeff Driggs version)! Good thing, because they also performed at the Sternwheel Regatta in Pomeroy, Ohio after this show.

Sabrena wowed the audience with her heel click skills. Mothman’s not the only one around here who can fly!

What a lovely day to clog with friends! Thanks again, Riverside Cloggers.

Mark your calendars: Mothman Festival 2020 is September 19-20!

Do YOU have a local monster legend or unusual museum?