Every West Virginia monster festival in 2025
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Cryptid festivals are a staple in West Virginia and are some of the most well-attended events throughout the year; if you have a favorite West Virginia monster, it probably has its own special day.
If you want to get a taste of West Virginia's mysterious side in 2025, here's a list of all the biggest cryptid festivals in West Virginia this year:
The Grafton Monster Festival will be holding its second-ever event this year to celebrate West Virginia's most amorphous cryptid. In its first year, the festival had numerous vendors, a cryptid cosplay contest and a Grafton Monster calling contest.
The festival begins on Friday, June 13 at 5 p.m. in downtown Grafton, and you can find the latest details and announcements on the festival on the official Grafton Monster Festival Facebook page.
Another new addition to the West Virginia cryptid festival circuit is Veggie Man Day, held at the Frank & Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University. Though smaller than most other cryptid festivals in the state, attendees will be able to peruse several different cryptid and paranormal-oriented artists and listen to different guest lectures throughout the day.
The event will be held on Saturday, July 12, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but if you've never even heard of Veggie Man, you can read all about its legend here.
What is the Vegetable Man of West Virginia?
The West Virginia Bigfoot Festival is one of the largest cryptid festivals in West Virginia and is organized each year by the West Virginia Bigfoot Museum. The three-day event will have plenty of food trucks, vendors and live music, and is a great time to check out the Bigfoot museum if you haven't already.
This year's festival will be held at Holly-Gray Park between Flatwoods and Sutton in Braxton County. You can find the most recent updates to festival plans at the official event page on Facebook.
Although not technically a cryptid, Lurch Fest is a celebration of Addams Family actor and Philippi native Ted Cassidy, who plays Lurch in the 1960s sitcom. The festival has been previously attended by Cassidy's son Sean, as well as Christofer Cook, a Ted Cassidy biographer.
The event will be held outside the Barbour County Historical Museum from noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2.
The Flatwoods Monster Convention will be returning to Braxton County on Sept. 13. at the Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham in Flatwoods. This year's convention will have a costume contest, a Flatwoods Monster photo op and guest speakers.
Admission for the convention is $10 and will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13. VIP tickets to the event on Sept. 12 are also available.
The 3 most famous artworks inspired by West Virginia's Mothman cryptid
The West Virginia cryptid calendar will end in a bang with its largest event, the annual Mothman Festival held in Point Pleasant. The event is attended by thousands of people each year who visit the town from across the country. Besides checking out the Mothman Museum, visitors can look forward to dozens of vendors, guest speakers, bus tours of the nearby TNT plant, live music and more.
Mothman is easily the state's most popular cryptid, being the subject of two different movies (one of which was never released), a museum, a brick set, a variety of potato chips, a minigolf course and an escape room, along with much more.
This year's Mothman Festival will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20 in downtown Point Pleasant. You can find more information at the festival's event page here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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