Southern Virginia’s Largest Event! July 19th-20th. Free Admission
We invite you to come to “LAKEFEST”! The 47th annual event has added some NEW features and events. Starting with adding Vendors on Friday afternoon this year. So if you can’t make it on Saturday, join us on Friday evening with over
90 vendors, live music, and fun.
Program 24
HERE IS THE LINEUP:
It all starts Friday Afternoon, The streets will close from 2nd to 5th starting at Noon to allow over 90 vendors to set up along with our featured Ferris Wheel Ride in front of McDonald’s. Starting at 4 pm come down a view the array of vendors, shop our stores, and dine at our restaurants. Ride the bucking bull, slide the enormous Fire truck slide, or climb the rock wall and of course, don’t forget the Ferris Wheel. Tickets are sold at the Ticket booth at the corner of 4th and Virginia Avenue near the sand sculpture. Our new ticket booth was made by the shop class at Mecklenburg County Public School’s Carpentry 111 class under the direction of Wayne Talley.
OPENING NIGHT CEREMONIES JULY 19th
Join us as we honor our 2024 Virginia Lake Festival Sponsors at 7 pm. Located this year at 416 Virginia Avenue/Lake Life Live Park. We so appreciate our Sponsors, Lakefest would not be possible without them. We will have a gated area where you can get a cold beverage from Woodbine Vineyards, Buggs Island Brewery & Sandy River Distillery. Live Music by Jusin Cody Fox band and a Balloon Basket candle lighting ceremony at dusk.
Check out all our fabulous sponsors https://clarksvilleva.com/festivals-celebrations/clarksville-lake-festival/#/
FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE MUSIC
7:30 pm-Live on Stage–Justin Cody Fox Band!
We are thrilled to have these guys back this year. If you missed Justin Cody Fox’s band last year on Sunday, you missed it, they were awesome. His parents reside right here in Buffalo Junction! So get ready for some Blues & Rock n Roll
JCF is a Blues/Rock powerhouse with a double-threat vocal and guitar prowess that’s been forged in fire since his early jump into the music industry at just 15 years old. Justin began honing his skills at a young age on late-night family jams and developed an early appreciation for songwriting exploring his parent’s record collection. By the time Justin had formed his first band, he was already gaining regional attention as one of the premiere performers on the NC coast. Some of Justin’s early influences included guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix, as well as Rock bands The Black Crowes, Humble Pie, The Faces, and Tom Petty. Over the years Justin has written and recorded six albums and toured up and down the East Coast, and Southern US.
More info on Band
http://www.justincodyfox.com/band
https://youtu.be/W7HOmLypexo?si=cZJF66L4sWS-DYSB
HOT AIR BALLOON SHOWS
Saturday & Sunday AM & Saturday PM. For the safety of all pilots, flights only occur in select weather conditions. Should there be storms in a 60-mile radius, or winds locally greater than 10 mph–flights will be canceled. Pilots will meet at the Clarksville Community Center on Woodland Drive across from the Food Lion lot around 6:30 to see the location of the wind to determine where they will be lifting off.
LAKEFEST/YMCA 5K RACE 2024
JURIED ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW SATURDAY
We are hosting over 190 vendors ranging from Crafts, Food, Non-profits & Retail items. Vendors this year are coming not only from Virginia, but also from other states: Florida, Ohio, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Maryland, & Georgia. We have lots of new & exciting booths this year, from amazing woodworking, acrylic and oil paintings, pottery, jewelry, items to be personalized on the spot, clothing, home accessories, and even homemade pet food & attire… just to name a few. VIRGINIA AVENUE from 9th through 2nd and Business Bridge will be CLOSED ALL DAY from 4 am to 11 pm.
FOOD & BEVERAGES
We have a full plate of food offering this year from Thai, Mediterranean, Greek, African, BBQ & Cousins Maine Lobster! For the sweet tooth, Homemade ice cream anyone? check out the Amish booth or Royal Creamery…also it would not be a festival without funnel cakes, deep-fried candy bars, & Oreos to ice, and smoothies, Lemonade is great for a hot day! There will be lots of food to tempt you but nothing like the Smell and aroma of kettle corn, popcorn, cotton candy & more! All here on Saturday.
PARKING & SHUTTLE
We get that question a lot here in our office, and to make life a little less stressful for you & the Town of Clarksville during Lakefest we encourage you to use the shuttle service offered to you as our solution for everyone.
This service will help with the age-old question of where to park. This way you don’t have to worry about being stuck on the side street with all those others trying & hoping to find a spot nearby. The side streets are really narrow and if you are new to the area, you might not know the best way to navigate around the back roads, even though there are detour signs. Even if you are familiar with and live out of town, there will be fewer headaches to park your car across from the YMCA, catch the bus, and ride to drop you off at 8th Street. And any time you are ready to head back to your vehicle, a bus will be there within minutes to take you back. Located on Industrial Parkway Road across from YMCA 1567 Noblin Farm Dr. map-shuttle
Festival-goers are encouraged to Park & Ride. Parking is $5 per vehicle; there is no charge to ride the shuttles to and from the festival. Parking will be at the Lake County Business Park, on Noblin Farm Road. The Shuttle will run from 8 am until 6 pm. If you want to participate in the night activities you will have to catch the last ride by 6 pm to retrieve your vehicle so you can then just park closer to town after 6 pm. We are excited to announce that we are again working with the Mecklenburg County Public School division to rent two of their buses – one handicapped accessible – and hiring division bus drivers to operate them.
SAND ART
Lakefest is thrilled to announce we have John Gowdy & Laura Cimador-Gowdy from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who will be returning to the 47th Annual Virginia Lake Festival. He is a retired captain from the Atlantic City Fire Department having served 27 years, half of those years in the rank of captain. He has dedicated the rest of his life to the arts. May it be painting, sculpture, or the performance of both together. The duo recently achieved 2nd Place Masters Duo, John, and Laura Gowdy at the annual Texas SandFest Competition (April 12, 2022) Photos by Kastle Kelley.
“My team and I have been carving sand for over 30 years professionally. I work with my lovely wife Laura. We have won many national, international, and world-class first-place awards in just about every master sand sculpture competition on the planet. Our greatest and most often won prize is “people’s choice”. We love pleasing the people who look at our sand displays and experience an emotional feeling from them.~https://www.johngowdy.
RIDES, GAMES & SPECIAL GUEST
For the last seven years, Paul Jackson, Helicopter Pilot, has been flying the friendly skies and giving our Lakefest visitors rides over Clarksville and the Lake. Take advantage of seeing Lake Country from the air this year, it is a memory you will never forget. Rides will be available starting Friday evening, at the Food Lion lawn area & Saturday for most of the day. It is $50 per person to ride.
Friday 4 pm to 9 pm & Saturday hours vary … there will be a super Fire truck slide(proceeds will go to Clarksville Voluntary Fire Dept), rock wall, Bucking Bull, and Ferris Wheel. Tickets for these will be available at the ticket booth located next to the sand sculpture at the corner of 4th & Virginia Ave.
We will still have our free trackless train offering rides on Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. Pick-up and Drop-off locations are next to Hite’s and Ayala’.
Special Guests From Ferngully Characters of Raleigh, we will have Characters will be here for a short time from 10 am -1 pm. Bluey, Barbie & Spiderman
LAKEFEST CLASSIC CAR SHOW
In 2019, The Lakefest Antique Auto Show celebrated 25 years, now called Lakefest Classic Car Show will be held in the parking lot of TouchstoneBank 701 Virginia Avenue… Each vehicle will receive a dash plaque for its entry.
Enter your Classic automobiles by filling out an application, $10 entry, and $20 day of show. You can register online at HERE or call us at the Chamber Office at 434-374-2436
LAKEFEST RAFFLE-Cooler Days Ahead with these great prizes. Three Cooler packages to add to your summer fun. Drawings will be held Friday at 9 pm
Tickets are $5, 3 for $12, or 6 for $23.
LAKEFEST T-SHIRTS-
Tee colors: White, Banana, Desert Pink, Black, Heather Galapagos, Sage, Warm Grey, Cantaloupe, Coral Silk, Light Orange, Banana Cream. VEE NECKS-Light Orange, Banana Cream. YOUTH, Sage, Dusty Rose. LADIES TANKS-Blush, Sea Glass. SLOUCHIES, Desert Pink, Mint. MENS TANKS, Neon Coral, Light Green
Youth sizes are $18
Adult Sm-XL are $27
2XL-3XL-$31
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE MUSIC
The Earls of Kent
The Earls of Kent is a premier cover band from the Washington D.C. Metro area consisting of six accomplished musicians skillfully performing a variety of popular Southern and Classic Rock. Paying tribute to the artists they cover, EoK takes pride in the fact that fans view the band as authentic to the musicianship, vocals, sound, and live stage performance of the original artists they cover such as The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. EoK is a very entertaining, lively, and high-energy band passionate about the music they play. We are excited to have them perform at this year’s Lakefest for a fun and memorable show.
One of the band members is the brother of our very own Steve Gaetani from Bridgewater Bar & Grill
9:15 pm Gathering of the Boats & Fireworks over the lake.
SUNDAY
Early morning hot air balloon show.
