2009 Mothman Festival

Paranormal News Insider --The 8th Annual Mothman Festival was a pleasant (no pun intended) escape from the typical paranormal conventions, conferences and "P-Cons" that are all the rage. Maybe because it was primarily outdoors or maybe that it had a carnival atmosphere, who knows. All I know is that it was a great time for all who gathered on this tiny town along the Ohio river known as Point Pleasant, West Virginia, on September 19th and 20th.

The festival itself is a celebration of the creature along with the sightings. In the heart of the vendor area was the famed Mothman Statue, created by local artist Bob Roach, who also created Chief Cornstalk and Colonel Andrew Lewis Statues that were outside the flood wall (funny fact, each statue is about five feet tall despite Mothman being rumored to be at least 6 feet tall, apparently Mr. Roach is also about five feet tall and refused to use ladders to help create his sculptures). There were also many "characters" walking around, a few various Men in Black as well as the Mothman himself paid a visit (see pic above left).

As I said it was a carnival atmosphere. There were Mothman pancakes (and an eating contest with them as well), lemonade, elephant ears and a variety of other food available. Saturday brought the Miss Mothman Festival Pageant (photo at left). There were also many other street vendors selling everything from t-shirts to handmade crafts (lots of stuffed Mothman dolls) along with some ghost groups (Prodigy Paranormal and Ghosts of Ohio, both of which had guest speakers) present to share their info.

Yes, guest speakers were on hand to talk about various paranormal and supernatural subjects on Saturday and Sunday. I was only in attendance on Saturday and was able to see James A. Willis (discussed the "Spooky Side of Abraham Lincoln") and Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Vampires) speak at the State theater (pictured at right in center of photo) on Main Street between sightseeing. There were other guests in attendance, be sure to check out the Official Mothman Festival website for more details.

Curiously missing from the event was any homange to the late John Keel, author of The Mothman Prophecies book that ultimately launched the movie that, well, helped fuel the festival. Keel passed away on July 3 of 2009. Funny thing, a few of the locals I talked to said the movie had nothing to do with the festival. The fact is the first year of the festival (2002) was the same year when the movie was released. The movie was actually shot in Kittanning, Pennsylvania (almost 4 hours away) and really put this city back on the map. The site of the Mothman Museum (pictured at left) has some great coverage surrounding the movie and does have a tribute to John Keel on their home page.

There is also a lot of history outside of the Mothman sightings and the Silver Bridge collapse. A long time ago a guy named George Washington visited the area and is rumored to have said (while looking at the point where the Ohio and Kanawha river meet) "What a pleasant point", which lead to the town being called Point Pleasant (well, that's the story the tour guide told). At the corner where the rivers meet there is a huge park, Tu-Endie-Wei (Wynadotte Indian phrase meaning, "the point between two waters") Point Pleasant Battle Monument, with a lot of historical artifacts onsite. The park celebrates the October 10, 1774 battle between Viriginia militiamen, lead by Colonel Andrew Lewis, versus native Indians lead by the Shawnee Chieftan Cornstalk. Cornstalk is sometimes blamed for many of the bad things that happened in the last 200 years in and around Point Pleasant which is known as the Cornstalk Curse.

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