Buckhannon is the home of the West Virginia Strawberry Festival. I corralled a few friends to join me for the opening day and check out all the strawberry goodies.
![WV Strawberry Festival](https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7787/17789903725_e1edb5b065_k.jpg)
The festival, held annually in the third week of May, began in 1936 as a way to honor strawberry growers, as per their website. The festival gave strawberry growers a place to sell their berries and the first one was one-day long and eventually grew into a full week. The festival continues to honor the strawberry growers from across West Virginia with a strawberry auction on Friday afternoon of the festival week.
![WV Strawberry Festival](https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5349/17602165728_880b178c03_k.jpg)
Walking through the main streets, all the storefronts were covered in painted strawberries and strawberry artwork. Restaurants also had strawberry specials. I quickly learned that the very first day is not the most eventual, and other events begin throughout the week. They later opened a carnival, arts and crafts exhibits, quilt shows, photography shows and more.
![WV Strawberry Festival](https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8793/17790436711_1aa58a4d8b_k.jpg)
![WV Strawberry Festival](https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5469/17763610896_e4c61b6b93_k.jpg)
![WV Strawberry Festival](https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8787/17167522164_0fdd9d79c7_k.jpg)
A very cool festival - though I'll definitely go later in the week next time - and I was able to try a few new restaurants. Look for those soon :)
![WV Strawberry Festival](https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7767/17789992145_ef07a54aed_k.jpg)
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