FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2007
Contact:  Caryn Gresham,
304-558-2200, ext. 347
cgresham@wvcommerce.org

Mountainfest adds West Virginia tour to 2007 festival

CHARLESTON. W. Va. – The 2007 Wild and Wonderful Mountainfest motorcycle rally will be July 26 to 29 in the greater Morgantown area.  This year, the festival producers have added a July 20 to 27 tour of West Virginia which includes nineteen sites and gives Mountainfest visitors a chance to see the Mountain State.

Gov. Joe Manchin today saluted the festival for its success and growth when he proclaimed July 20 through July 29, 2007, Mountainfest Week in West Virginia.

“I am delighted to issue this proclamation and officially welcome the Mountainfest production team and everyone who comes to ride in the state,” Gov. Manchin said.  “As a motorcycle enthusiast, I wholeheartedly encourage residents and visitors alike to attend the festival and take the West Virginia tour if they have the time.”

“The success of this event is exciting for the Morgantown area and for the state,” Tourism Commissioner Betty Carver said.  “We are pleased that the festival will include a tour so visitors can have fun of riding on West Virginia’s scenic roads and byways.”

The Wild and Wonderful Mountainfest includes presentations, rides and musical performances for festival attendees.  The festival will include a vintage motorcycle display that includes more than 100 vintage and antique motorcycles.  The exhibit, in the Waterfront Place Hotel ballroom, is one of the most comprehensive and complete displays of its kind in the nation, according to Mountainfest organizer Cliff Sutherland.  Arts Monongahela on High Street will feature an historic display of Harley Davidson motorcycle art and posters.

“This festival is a wonderful example of partnerships and cooperation,” Carver said.  “As the festival has grown, more volunteers from the Morgantown area get involved and more businesses participate in the new activities that are added.”

The sites that will be included on the tour include the West Virginia Penitentiary, Moundsville; Waterfront Place Hotel, Morgantown; Valley Worlds of Fun, Fairmont; Cacapon State Park, Berkeley Springs; Turf Motel, Charles Town; Cliffside Inn, Harpers Ferry; North Bend State Park, Cairo; Tucker County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Davis; Blackwater Falls State Park, Davis; Charlie’s Harley Davidson, Huntington; West Virginia State Capitol, Charleston; Mountain Lakes Ampitheater and Day’s Inn Hotel, Flatwoods; Snowshoe Resort, Snowshoe; Hawks Nest State Park, Ansted; New River Convention and Visitors Bureau/West Virginia Professional River Outfitters, Oak Hill; Tamarack, Beckley; Pipestem State Park, Pipestem; Coal House, Williamson, and Chief Logan State Park, Logan.

Motorcyclists who take part in the West Virginia tour will be eligible to participate in a $20,000 prize drawing, sponsored by Mountainfest. 

Wild and Wonderful Mountainfest received the Mountain State Award from the West Virginia Division of Tourism for excellence in programming and economic impact on the Morgantown area.  The festival has also received the Star of the Industry award from the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau for the best tourism event of 2006.

More information about the event and the West Virginia tour can be found at www.wvmountainfest.com or at the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau, 304-292-5081 or www.tourmorgantown.com.

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