The Inter-Mountain file photo An athlete prepares for the Caber Toss at last year's West Virginia Wild and Wonderful Celtic Festival and Highland Games.

BEVERLY – The fourth annual West Virginia Wild and Wonderful Celtic Festival and Highland Games will get underway on Friday and run through Saturday at 4-H Camp Pioneer.     

The event, which features competitions, food, music and more, made its debut at the Scotts Lake Road venue in 2023 and has continued to grow each year since its inception.    

“We have a couple new things going, so we are really excited about this year’s event,” said West Virginia Wild and Wonderful Celtic Festival and Highland Games president Timothy Ferguson. “We are going to have some different displays and we have a huge group of vendors, both food and merchandise. Each year we try to add more stuff and bring back the fans’ favorites from the year before. We are working really, really hard to get the hairy cows back because they were missing last year and everybody likes those things.”     

The Three Rivers Avian Center is new to this year’s event and will be bringing several birds of prey for patrons to check out. Ferguson said there will also be new activities for children at this year’s festival.   

“We have some new stuff for the kids and we will once again have the Four Leaf Clover Hunt,” Ferguson said. “The kids really enjoy the Four Leaf Clover Hunt because they get money. If they find the lucky token they can get money for it.”   

Ferguson also mentioned that this will be the first year the Festival will have a Queen and Court.    

“We had our first-ever beauty pageant earlier this year and the queen and her court were chosen from that,” Ferguson said. “So we will have all of the royalty there.”   

Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. for those attending concerts on Friday evening, which will feature Celtic Conundrum (6:15 p.m.), Starfire Entertainment (7 p.m.), Across the Pond (7:30 p.m.), Starfire Entertainment (8:15 p.m.), the Low Kings (8:45 p.m.) and Starfire Entertainment.   

Things will get going bright and early on Saturday morning, beginning with the Kilted 5K Run-Walk at 9 a.m. Gates to the venue will open at 8 a.m when the Heavy Athletic competition begins.    

“On Friday night we will have live music, food and drinks,” Ferguson said. “On Saturday the Festival starts at 9 a.m. and will run late in the afternoon, possibly up to 6 p.m. with full-blown activities.”    

There will be events, competitions, performances and more throughout the day at multiple locations at Camp Pioneer, including the Davis Trust Company Field, Dance Stage, Clan Village, Kids Corner, Livestock Barn, Stone Lifting Area and the Main Entertainment Stage.   

“We have 22 clans signed up and our clan village is always huge and growing,” Ferguson said. “I think in the end we will actually end up with more than that if the ones that have promised to show come. We may end up with close to 30 clans if things go right.”   

Ferguson said that close to 2,700 people attended last year’s event, not counting the clan members, vendors, and workers.    “We didn’t grow last year like we did the first three years and that was due to it being ridiculously hot,” Ferguson said. “We are going to try and do better with the shade tents and things of that nature this year. We have gone above and beyond trying to purchase extra tents to try and keep people out of the weather. We have two portable cooling machines that we will also have there this year. We will have places where people can go and get out of the sun.”   

Ferguson said that people are welcomed to bring their own canopies that can be set up in select locations.   

“People really like to come and watch the Highland Games with people throwing the telephone poles, big rocks, and things of that nature,” Ferguson said. “The dance stage is always a big hit where the West Virginia Highland Dancers are always highlighted. And the Pipe and Drum Bands are always a big attraction.”     

For more information and a complete schedule of this year’s event, visit the West Virginia Wild and Wonderful Celtic Festival and Highland Games’ Facebook page.