West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture & History

In May we will celebrate the music and sounds of the Mountain State. A new exhibit is on display in the Great Hall theater gallery titled “The Sounds of Music.” The exhibit features musical instruments, noted West Virginia-born performers and the celebrated Mountain Stage, home of live music on public radio. Be entertained by high school jazz bands at the 2022 Music Among the Hills competition on May 13. At the end of the month and hosted every Memorial Day weekend on the State Capitol grounds, join us for the annual Vandalia Gathering, which has brought together the finest traditional Appalachian musicians for a great weekend of picking since 1977 and is free to the public. Enjoy fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and guitar contests outside during the day, and concerts in the State Theater in the evenings, as well as arts and crafts, traditional dancing, the liars contest, and food vendors! Also, be sure to stop in our other sites this month – Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville and West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling – to learn more about the history of our wonderful state. See you soon!