Join us for the 2010 Virginia Highlands Festival
July 24 - August 8
Thank you for making the 2009 Virginia Highlands Festival a success.We look forward to another great festival in 2010. Feel free to browse through our site at some of the events that were scheduled for 2009. 2010 event information will be posted soon.
The Virginia Highlands Festival began in 1948 and, over the years, has grown and flourished. Today it is one of the top 100 tourist events in North America and one of the top 20 in the Southeast -- offering plenty of entertainment, an enormous antiques market, juried art and photography competitions, and a juried arts and crafts show, as well as nationally-known writers, lecturers, and visual and performing artists.
Come see the Budweiser Clydesdales, sponsored by Walling Distributing Company of Bristol, from Tuesday, August 4 thru Sunday, August 9th. The Budweiser Clydesdales were first introduced to the public on April 7, 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. August A. Busch, Jr. presented the hitch as a gift to his father, August Anheuser Busch, Sr., who was guided outside the brewery by the ruse of being told his son had purchased him a new car, but instead was greeted by the horses, pulling a red, white and gold beer wagon. The hitch proceeded to carry the first case of post-Prohibition beer from the St. Louis brewery in a special journey down Pestalozzi Street in St. Louis.
Click here to see photos from the Festival Parade featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales
Many more special events are planned for this year's festival. So join us as we celebrate the 61st birthday of the Virginia Highlands Festival.
Come see why Abingdon was named a "Virginia Main Street" destination in 2007 and an "American Dream Town" in 2006 -- and why the Virginia Highlands Festival is a Top 20 "must see" event (National Geographic Traveler, April 2005).
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