Parking? 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. (View the Shuttle Map here)

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 and live out of town, there will be fewer headaches to park your car across from the YMCA, catch the bus and ride to the 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.

Parking & Shuttle Service

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 with renting two of their buses – one handicapped accessible – and hiring division bus drivers to operate them.

Sheila Cuykendall, Executive Director of the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce said the chamber traditionally hired a non-local bus service to bring people downtown from the event’s remote parking areas. Last year we wanted to find a way to provide the same service while spending the money locally. She approached the school division about renting two buses – one handicapped accessible – and hiring division bus drivers to operate them. The school board once again approved the request at its last voting session.

ATLANTA, Ga. April 28, 2017 – The Southeast Tourism Society has named 40th Annual Virginia Lake Festival “LAKEFEST” one of the STS Top 20 Event in the Southeast for JULY 2017.

Bruce Woerner, Chamber President, Sheila Cuykendall, Executive Director of Clarksville Chamber, Jeff Jones, Clarksville Town Manager

This year’s 40th Annual Virginia Lake Festival is July 20-22, 2017. The STS Top 20 Festival and Event Awards have highlighted programs around the Southeast since 1985.

Travel industry experts select 20 events per month, and STS publicizes them throughout the United States. The complete list is published on two websites: EscapeToTheSoutheast.com and Travel Media Press Room.

For over 39 years, all the activities provided during this event have been free and open to the public. We are very committed to continuing this tradition, although our expenses continue to increase. Our entire community (population 1,400) becomes involved with one aspect or another of this three-day event. Our civic groups are instrumental in lending a hand, as well as our rescue, fire and police departments to insure that all of those attending have a wonderful and safe time. This year we are celebrating our 40 year milestone, and with that our hopes are to enhancing the elements of Lakefest festival goers enjoy so much! More vendor choices, Great music, sand sculpture, fun entertainment for the children, a great show of Hot air balloons, & the biggest Fireworks show to date!!

“The Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Festival and Event list is an excellent guide for the Southeast’s visitors, residents and travel writers. The events selected represent the best, and often most unique, activities in our region,” said Bill Hardman, president and CEO of the Southeast Tourism Society.

Events considered for the STS Top 20 recognition must be at least three years old and have attendance of at least 1,000. Nomination forms and deadlines are available at SoutheastTourism.org or by calling 770-542-1523.

STS, founded in 1983 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting tourism to and within 12 states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

The Clarksville Chamber is super excited to unveil the Special 40th edition 2017 design for this year’s Lakefest T-shirts. Normally, we hold a contest that begins in January for local artist or participants of any age to submit their design to the Lakefest judges for consideration of the winning logo design for the t-shirts. With a decline in entries over the past few years, we decided that with it being the 40th year we would enlist a few outside professional designers to submit a design to us this year. The few designers that chose to participate have ties to our local merchants with their promotional products.

The 2017 Lakefest Logo Winner of $250 is Dale Moorhouse!

Dale is a graphic designer who has over 30 years’ experience in the industry. Pro Graphics has clients across North America, and has been producing artwork for Toby Newcomb of Red Bolt Promotions for the last two years. In 2011, he opened Pro Graphics, which specializes in producing artwork for the promotional & incentive industry as well as designing graphics for print. Dale also creates logos and develops marketing campaigns for business. Dale is known for his professionalism, creativity and patience. He also loves coffee.

Logo was created in Adobe Illustrator and designed to incorporate the boating/music/fireworks aspects of the event. Bright colors convey the ideas of fun and lively.

A five-member judging committee chose his graphic design from a few other contenders. Each submission remains unnamed to the judging committee therefore they don’t know whose artwork it is so that it is unbiased. Dale’s winning design will be featured on the official 40th Annual Virginia Lake Festival, 2017 t-shirts and all other promotional event materials for the July 20-22 event.

Come to Clarksville, Virginia Saturday, May 13, to the Big Lake Flea Market, for more unique finds and great bargains. Virginia Avenue will be a buzz with a special selection of vendors and downtown merchants offering arts and crafts, fresh produce, antiques, yard sale items and one-of-a-kind treasures.

Treat your tummy to delicious tastes including freshly picked strawberries straight from the patch. Come hungry, too, because the best of the food vendors will be onsite preparing your favorites and the local restaurants will offer specials on their menu throughout the day.

Vendors will be located on the pavement (in the parallel parking spaces) along Virginia Avenue from 2nd Street to 6th Street. Thus, vehicle parking will be available in the lots of Wells Fargo Bank and behind the Virginia Avenue Mall, plus on the side streets of Downtown Clarksville.

So, hit the streets early (vendors will be ready at 8:00 a.m.) and make your plans to spend a fun day in Virginia’s only lakeside town.

TICKETS are IN and on sale online (left or below depending on your device) for the upcoming Clarksville Lake Country Wine Festival in Clarksville! Moving full steam ahead and keeping our fingers crossed that our plans and hopes of holding the event on the bridge this year will happen we have added new and exciting features to this year’s event held on Saturday, April 8, NOON to 5 pm.

We are hosting 16 Virginia wineries, a selection of craft beer, great food, hand selected artisan vendors and a few local merchants & live music by Jeff Bailey and Brian Parks, Uncorked & Jared Place.

Mecklenburg County Tourism has confirmed with us that the Sea Plane Splash-in will be back again this year.

So mark your calendars and start the morning downtown shopping the stores & dining at our restaurants then stroll down to the Lake Motel to view the Sea Planes and for those who are 21 and over, at high noon the gates to the Wine Festival located this year at second street will open to the business bridge.

You can purchase online(left or below depending on your device) or at the Chamber office, Galleria on the Lake, The Virginia Avenue Mall, Century 21 on the Lake & Cooper’s Landing Inn. Tickets in advance are $25, $30 at the gate, ticket includes a souvenir wine glass. For non-taster/DD tickets in advance are, $12, $15 at the gate.

All festival proceeds will benefit the Town’s Chamber of Commerce and will go towards future projects. For more information, contact the Chamber online or 800-557-5582.

BE ROOTED IN YOUR COMMUNITY is our campaign for the 2017 Membership Drive Campaign here at the Clarksville Lake County Chamber of Commerce. Every January we send out well over 300 membership packet applications to partner with area businesses & organizations. In 2016, we had 204 members of the  Clarksville Chamber.

Our primary purpose of this Chamber is to our members. Members are “preferred” businesses because they make the commitment to the purposes of the Chamber – to promote civic, economic, and area enterprises. Chamber members promote job readiness for youth, efficient public services, a positive business climate and solid customer service. This  Chamber refers only investing members’ information throughout the year. We make thousands of referrals yearly via telephone, email and person-to-person, In our office alone, we handled more than 17,000 inquiries in 2016—phone calls, emails, social media contacts (Facebook) and people walking through our door, all asking questions and needing assistance with information.

While the media continues to speculate on the future economic conditions that are ahead, let’s keep in mind that the benefits of a Chamber membership far out-weigh the cost–in most cases, the cost is less than 50¢ a day! Can you really afford to have your interest be omitted from one of the biggest community promoters of your business or organization? “Become Rooted and let’s Grow together” in 2017, along with all the other businesses, organizations and or individual that will rejoin or join this year . We are confident that you will realize the value of being part of a  network of businesses & organizations here in the heart of Lake County and the benefits it provides.

We hope you will consider being a part this great “growing” team and we really look forward to assisting you, the visitors & residents and  promoting this great community we all love so much! Join in 2017! Let us help promote your business or special interest! Join and become “rooted” with the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce- working & growing together is all the power we need to Succeed!

Thank you, in advance, for supporting your Chamber and your community!
Clarksville Chamber Director

Make your holidays extra special by attending the Christmas in Clarksville Open House on Sunday, November 20th! Downtown merchants have made special plans to be open from 1-5 pm and help you to wrap up your holidays with one-of-a-kind special gift ideas, discounts and refreshments. In addition, carolers will be strolling along Virginia Avenue singing your holiday favorites. Santa Claus will be at Santa Land located in Virginia Avenue Mall. Take a ride down Virginia Avenue in a horse drawn carriage, provide by B & W Carriage, of Buffalo Junction. Downtown Clarksville will be shining in its beautiful splendor of the holidays that take you back to Christmas of yesteryear.

Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy what Downtown Clarksville has to offer for the holidays. Remember that when you spend your money here, 1% of your tax dollars go back into our community!  SO SHOP MECKLENBURG FIRST!

Kick off December by attending or participating in Clarksville’s annual Christmas Parade, December 2nd at 6:30 pm. What’s more fun than marching December in with a Christmas Parade, cant think anything? Me either. So come enjoy the floats, bands, & see Santa in his sleigh!

It’s time to register for the Clarksville Christmas Parade ENTRY FORM must be received in the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber Office by Thursday, December 1, to be eligible for the December 2nd event.  We are seeking participants—beauty queens, businesses, community clubs, organizations, churches, antique vehicles and others interested in making this the best parade to date.

The parade will be fun-filled with no competitions and each entry is required to adhere to the parade regulations below.  The parade is hosted and sponsored by the Clarksville Chamber and the Town of Clarksville.  For more info, contact the Chamber at (434) 374-2436.

RULES & REGULATIONS

• Registered entries only—deadline December 1st; NO Santa on any entry, Line-up format is provided when registering is completed.
• All entries must be decorated in a Christmas theme for the Holiday and abide with these parade rules and regulations
• No candy may be thrown from entries; walkers alongside may hand candy to the children.
• No sirens, horns or air-horns may be used.
• Drivers of all entries must have a valid driver’s license.
• No entry may halt the parade (only exception will be marching bands).
• Participants must be in line by 6:15 p.m. sharp; specific line-up location is provided with the registration form.
• The Parade Committee reserves the right to reject any and all entries for any reason before and during the parade.  No inappropriate actions or displays will be tolerated.

Please be aware that Highway 58 Business will be closed to truck traffic (trucks will need to utilize the Highway 58 Bypass) from 6-8 pm. During this same time, Virginia Avenue (2nd to 9th Streets) will be closed to vehicle traffic from 6-8 pm. So parade preparations may be completed, parallel parking along the parade route will be eliminated beginning at 5 pm through the duration of the parade.

Monday, October 31st, from 5:30-7pm Downtown Clarksville Virginia will be hosting Trick or Treat on the Avenue! It’s a the safe & fun way to Trick or Treat and great way to load up on those sweet treats!

Spooky NEWS is that the street will be CLOSED this year, so there be a lot of extra fun this year!!

Over 40 merchants and civic organizations will be participating and most will be all dressed up in their costumes and handing out treats from 2nd Street to 8th Street.  All children up to age 12 are invited to this Spooktacular event; each must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult. Please, no masks are to be worn by those 12 years of age or over.

Fall Plans are Underway!

Come and celebrate the fall season the first Saturday in October at the Annual Harvest Days Festival! Saturday morning, vendors will line the streets facing the storefronts and sidewalks along Virginia Avenue offering seasonal crafts, specialty items, antiques, collectibles and antiquities (items of an era) from 9 am to 3 pm.

In addition to the vendors, the one-of-a-kind specialty shops and restaurants will offer specials throughout the downtown area, along with a host of games & crafts for the kids to participate in and a galore of farm animals to see, & ponies to ride.

Come out and enjoy the beautiful autumn weather and the activities that are available. The event is opened to the public and there is no admission charge. This year the festival will continue into the late afternoon & evening with the Lake Country Cruise-in and our Oktoberfest Beer Garden, this year the event will be Saturday evening instead of Friday. We will have Fall Craft Beer, Music & Food from 8 pm-11:30 pm. at the corner of 5th & Virginia Ave.

Harvest Days Festival is hosted by the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce. For more information call (434) 374-2436.

1st place was Whimsical Robyn, Robyn Johnston from Apex ,NC mosaic sculptures

2nd Over the River Artwork, Charlene Woods from Stafford, VA mixed media artwork

3rd Designs by Gerry, Gerry Blanks from Bumpass, VA hand painted nautical window art

Honorable Mention The Tin Man, Scott Tope from Fayetteville, NC hand-crafted aluminum can creations, bottle cap earrings, all recycled materials

Each year we enlist three judges to explore all the craft booths at our event. This is the criteria we ask them to look for and choose their favorites.

• Attractiveness of booth
• Quality, beauty and difficulty of craft
• Friendliness and helpfulness of crafter

Congratulations to this year’s Winners!

The Biggest Event in Southern Virginia this year is spectacular and we are inviting you to come, party with us as we celebrate the area’s favorite event here in Virginia’s only Lakeside Town. Below you’ll find detailed information on some of this year’s happenings; Starting with our Annual Hot-air Balloon Tethering rides, to the Welcoming Ceremonies & finally the main day events to the gathering of the boats & fireworks.

2016 Lakefest Schedule

• Tethered hot-air balloon event (Thursday)
• Showcasing our own special sign of L O V E
• Welcoming Ceremonies Friday Night
• Musical Guests (Friday)
• LAKEFEST Raffle
• Juried Arts & Crafts Festival Saturday
• Shuttle & Parking Information
• Antique Auto Show
• Games & Rides
• Special Entertainment from a few Disney Princesses & Star Wars Characters
• Sand Sculpture Artist
• Musical Guests (Saturday)
• Official 2016 LakeFest T-Shirts & Souveniors
• Top 20 Events
• LakeFest Logo

Friday, July 15th stop by the corner of 4th & Virginia Avenue, where sand artist, Ed Moore, of Sandy Feat, has already begun his larger-than-life creation, I wonder what it will be this year?

The town will be busy preparing for the night’s activities as the main stage will be rolling in as well as a few selected vendors & Fun Time Amusements of Danville will be setting up all their machines for the all the children’s games & rides.  Around 6:30pm everything should be set & placed into action. At 7pm, the night’s MC, Bill Baker will take stage and welcome our wonderful sponsors to the stage! We couldn’t do it without them! Be sure you thank a sponsor if you see one.

The 2016 Virginia Lake Festival would not be possible without Sponsorships. The great thing is most of our Sponsors have been supporting Lakefest year after year. We are hoping that in the years to follow, more businesses will consider thinking about supporting this event. Your generosity and support brings economic vigor to our community and allows Lakefest to be a dynamic and joyful celebration of Life in Lake Country. It is a TOP TWENTY event in the Southeast, no one else in our area has that tagged with their event.

Lakefest is the largest event in the area and is enjoyed by thousands not only in this town, but in surrounding towns. People travel from all over to come here. Vendors travel from Florida, GA, PA, OH & AL. Our whole county benefits from Lakefest, as well as South Boston & South Hill hotels receiving more guests this weekend.

We salute our sponsors of Lakefest and all their support of the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce. Come and give them a big THANK YOU, Friday night as we honor them for their support, along with these other great businesses that supported this year’s Lakefest.

Captains

• Clarksville Ruritans
• VETS, Inc.

Master Commandant

• McDonalds of Clarksville

Commanders

• Benchmark Community
• Lake Motel & Magnuson
• SENTARA
• The News Progress
• Lake Country Satellite
• The Mecklenburg Sun
• Lakes Media/US 98.3

Officers

• VCU/CMH
• Century 21
• Simmons & Associates Realty

1st Mates

• A & K Dock Service
• Carter Bank & Trust
• Citizens Community Bank
• Clarksville Marina
• HHM Porta Toilet LLC
• Mecklenburg Electric Coop
• Rudd’s Creek Marina
• State Farm-Buchanan Insurance
• Sunoco A Plus/Papa Johns
• Talbert Building Supply
• Virginia Avenue Mall

Helmsmen

• Clarksville Auto Supply
• Matthew’s Sanitation
• Moore’s Chevrolet
• Preddy Memorial Foundation
• Southside Marine & Auto

As soon as we are finished with taking the sponsor photo, the live entertainment for the evening takes stage….The Pizazz Band.  We will be selling LAKEFEST t-shirts by the Clarksville Ruritans Thrift Shop, and also raffle tickets for the “Hooked on You” Raffle.

LakeFest Highlights start on Thursday…Come out and enjoy the beauty of the hot air balloons! Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and spend the evening watching the balloons inflate and provide fun, FREE hot-air balloon rides for children 12 and younger. This event is scheduled for Thursday, July 14, starting at 6 pm at the Lake Country Business Park located on Noblin Farm Road (next to Clarksville Elementary School).

Hot dogs, hamburgers, soft drinks and ice cream treats will be available, courtesy of MeadowView Terrace. Children’s games, a dunking booth and other activities will be available at the event, too, all courtesy of Halifax Regional Health System. A minimal fee will be charged for the food and activities; however, all proceeds will be donated to the Southeastern Alzheimer’s Association.

With the weather cooperating (pilot can fly only when the wind is less than 10 mph and there are no storms within a 60 mile radius), all activities will continue until dusk. For more information, contact the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce at 434-374-2436.

It all started with the Clarksville Chamber, Town of Clarksville and some members of the community who were on a quest to have our very own LOVE sign. The Chamber had rented one from Virginia.org the last two years as part of our tourism attraction at the Virginia Lake Festival. But it made more sense to create our own because, well, we LOVE Clarksville & Lakefest! So in January it was presented to the board that we make this a Town & Chamber project but it was important to all that the community help us with the ideas.  We began asking the locals to submit their ideas and designs. We also encouraged them to incorporate current and historical items of importance to the culture of Clarksville. Once we received the submissions the Chamber board of directors voted on the four best choices for each letter and then we posted a public poll for each letter. The selected winners of this poll now represent our very own LOVE sign!

• L is for Lake Life, Lakefest and our Love for this town.
• O represents Clarksville’s history of the Occoneechi Indians and Opportunities here in Clarksville! We hope to capture great memories & visitors’ dreams of visiting again and again (or even that they will want to live here!)
• V is for our many Visitors that Vacation here in Clarksville and we want you to Value your time with us!
• E is for wishing Everyone wonderful Experiences. And we have to add our thankfulness for God’s Everlasting Love for us! We are looking forward to our Endless possibilities here in Clarksville! The END.

We want to thank the community for all their help and the local talent who helped make each letter possible. For more pictures visit our facebook page with all details of our LOVE LETTERS!

Visitors can come see the LOVE sign on display at the pocket park at Virginia Avenue & 4th Street through the middle of August, then it will be moved Lakeside beside our Welcome to Clarksville Sign at the Sunoco A Plus

About the LOVEwork Project

• www.virginia.org/love– features all the LOVEwork with an interactive map so travelers can visit each one.
• Over the past few years, we have seen over 100,000 visits to the LOVEwork webpage
• We continue to see great engagement online with thousands of user-generated pictures on Facebook, twitter and instagram featuring the LOVEworks
• Visitors are encouraged to use #LOVEVA with LOVEwork pictures and share with Virginia Tourism’s social accounts, @visitvirginia