MULLENS, WV (WOAY) – The town of Mullens, West Virginia was once again able to host its yearly Dogwood Festival after being canceled in 2020. This beloved and long-standing tradition in the town has been taking place since 1979 and centers around one of the town’s local treasures– the Dogwood tree. This year the town is celebrating its 41st annual festival.
“Since being a kid I can remember the Dogwood Festival being here,” says Krystal Bishop, a Dogwood committee member. “There’s excellent rides, more rides than we’ve ever had before, all kinds of vendors, food, crafts, just a little bit of everything for everybody.”
The festival kicked off Wednesday and will last until Sunday. The highlight of the Dogwood festivities of course being the famous memorial Dogwood Tree planting ceremony, but there’s plenty of other events and activities to be had, particularly for the kids– some of which, are a mix of education and fun.
“We have multiple activities, one of them is part of the field sobriety test, depth perception, just little activities like that to give them an idea of how it can really impair you, so in the future, hopefully, they won’t make the wrong choices that cause them to hurt themselves or others,” says assistant chief Drew Cook.
Along with the simulations given by the Mullens Police Department, various other educational programs were shown to the kids, including a demonstration presented by the Wyoming East High Friends of the Earth club on keeping our living spaces clean and litter-free.
“We did this back in 2019, we had similar games, and basically we just want to spread the word that our roadsides are not trash dumps and that we need to keep the place that we live a clean place for us and the animals,” says Wyoming East High School Alumni Angela Vest.
But after the educational events, the real fun begins, with the carnival opening, races, eating contests, live music, fireworks, and a lot more fun activities making up the 2021 Mullens Dogwood Festival.
