2024 Lemonade Festival reunites the two Bluefields after rivalry week

BLUEFIELD, VA (WVNS) – The 2024 Lemonade Festival saw a change in tradition, as the event got a new location.

The two Bluefields have a rich history of lemonade. For quite some time, the lemonade festival has taken over downtown Bluefield, Virginia.

This year, the event was moved to the Bluefield City Park.

With long time traditions like this, sometimes there can be conflict when change arises.

City of Bluefield’s Executive Assistant to the City Manager, Felicia Holcomb stated some of the changes.

“Everybody has been so supportive of us moving here and this is tradition. Everybody has been on board with, following tradition. It has been another year for us in the books,” said Holcomb.

The band, Pieces of One put on a performance. A lemon eating contest, along with a lemon-pie eating contest was held. Food trucks also set up shop to give out food, along with the classic free lemonade.

Bluefield is coined “Nature’s Air-Conditioned City”. Because of this, the Chamber of Commerce of the Two Virginias gives out free lemonade every time it hits 90 degrees at the Mercer County Airport.

Because it is so infrequent that they experience that kind of heat, they hold a Chamber Night with free lemonade at Bowen Field towards the beginning of summer.

Jeff Disibbio, CEO and President of the Chamber of Commercer of the Two Virginias said, “This is kind of the end of summer, so we’re giving it away here at the Lemonade Festival. So, we want to make sure that the public gets at least two times a year when they get free lemonade at these two events.”

This lemonade festival may mark the unofficial end to summer, but it also traditionally marks the end of the Beaver-Graham rivalry week.

“This is like our rivalry week but the rest of the time, we honestly work so well together,” said Holcomb.

“So, the real reason is, we may be foes on Friday night, but the rest of the year…one night a year we can be foes, but the rest we try to work together for the best of the region,” said Disibbio.

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