Washboard fest returns to downtown Logan this week

LOGAN — One of Logan’s signature annual celebrations is scheduled to begin on Thursday, when the Logan Washboard Arts & Music Festival returns for its 23rd year.

From Thursday to Saturday, downtown Logan will host various vendors, activities for young and old, demonstrations by artists, and a lot of live music. The theme of the festival stems from the presence in Logan of the Columbus Washboard Company, which began making washboards in 1895, moved to Logan in 1999, and is reportedly the last remaining washboard manufacturer in the country. This year's event is sponsored by the TC Energy Foundation, the Hocking Hills Tourism Association and Logan Town Center.

Drew Davidson, president of Logan Town Center and of the nonprofit International Washboard Festival organization, said the event continues to grow and add new attractions.

“We’ve got a couple new food venders this year, and a couple new craft vendors,” Davidson said. “One thing that’s new is, we’ve got a mini-golf vendor bringing a nine-hole mini-golf course. It’s going to be on Market Street, right in front of the Hocking Hills Bagel Company. I think it’ll be a good addition to the festival.”

In the time he’s been involved with the event, Davidson said, he’s seen it continue to thrive.

“The past three years we’ve seen pretty good growth,” he said. “We’ve seen increased growth, increased participation. We’re really excited. We’ve got a really great music lineup, some really popular Grand Old Opry type acts coming in.”

With live music in the evening all three days, the acts will include Persuaded, High Road, the Sodbusters, and the Howling Hound Dogs. A complete schedule, as well as other information on the festival, is available at loganwashboardfestival.com .

While some festival-type events in Logan have gotten mixed reviews from local residents who view them mainly as disruptions of the town’s normal day-to-day routine, Davidson suggested the Washboard Festival has enjoyed a generally good rep with townspeople.

“We don’t get nearly the kind of pushback that some of the other festivals do,” he said. “I think it’s because we’ve set this up to be more of a Hocking County, local-centric festival. I’m sure we get some of the tourists in, but that’s not really how we promote it. This is our downtown, our Logan. With the Washboard Company being the last washboard factory in the country, it’s really something special to celebrate about Logan, for Logan.”