Bluegrass Festival in Greenbrier County Benefits a Town Jewel - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Williamsburg may be tucked away in Greenbrier County with only 400 people, but the town is preparing to host a three-day Bluegrass Festival to benefit a cause that is near and dear to the town's people.

A pioneer fort from the late 1700's has been a historical landmark in Williamsburg and has been covered by a barn for protection for more than 100 years.

Now the McCoy Fort is in dire need of restoration, and it won't be cheap.

"About five to seven years ago, a tornado hit the barn and started it to list, and because of that it's a little bit of an emergency to get both buildings down and then to build the log fort back so it will be here for posterity," said Carolyn Stephens, festival promoter.

To help raise funds for a matching grant to restore the fort, Poor Farm in Williamsburg is presenting the Badlands Bluegrass Festival, a three-day event featuring 23 bluegrass bands and an open field for camping.

"This festival is a celebration of home, it's a celebration of Appalachia. We have bluegrass bands and Americana bands, most of them from the region," said Stephens.

The festival begins on Williamsburg Road on Friday, June 15 and ends Sunday the 17.

The proceeds from the festival will benefit the restoration of the McCoy fort.

The restoration period will also serve as a learning experience for children.

<we're real excited about the taking down of the fort because we're going to do a couple years of archaeology work and that will give the opportunity to school children and boy scouts from the Jamboree to come and do real archaeology work," said Stephens.

A weekend of music, bonfires and camping.

All to help Williamsburg preserve it's history.

Tickets for the three-day festival are $55 and children under 12 are free.

Tickets can be purchased at the Wild Bean in Lewisburg or at Poor Farm off of Williamsburg Road on the day of the event.

Tickets can also be purchased at www.badlandsbluegrass.com.

The first band begins the June 15 at 6 p.m.