We at FOC are HUGE dog lovers. We love dogs of all
shapes and sizes.
However, we don’t love them at Cheat Fest.
Howdy Cheat Festers!
Spring is just around the corner – and Friends of the Cheat is kicking it into high gear – weaving together all the details of the 27th Annual Cheat River Festival. Sadly, Cheat Fest is VIRTUAL again this year, but we are planning all sorts of great content for you including: live-streaming music, our amazing Virtual Silent Auction, a new online merch store with some big surprises, the Cheat Fest membership drive, and some in-person, outside, COVID-safe events throughout the entire month of May! We’ll be loading you up with all the details in the coming weeks, but to start things off…
REGISTRATION FOR THE CHEAT CANYON MASSACRE-ENCE IN NOW OPEN!
May 1st – You read that right – the Cheat Fest Downriver race is ON! Normally held on the Friday of Cheat Fest, this year’s race will be on the morning of Saturday, May 1st. No in-person registration though, so if you’re planning to race, please pre-register and note the details about shuttling, the 2 different heats, and our social-distancing rules. Keep an eye on the race page for any new details and developments. Good luck, racers!
FOC is partnering with Morgantown favs, Gritstone Climbing, and the Cheat Canyon Climbing Club to bring you TWO climbing events during Cheat Fest month:
May 8th – Gritstone Ascension Adventure – 10:00am to 6:00pm
Morgantown,WV – Mark your calendars and get ready to see how high you can climb. This challenge is all about seeing how many vertical feet you can cover using routes of any level. For $15, enter the Ascension Adventure for a chance to win a Grand Prize. There will be art, a food truck, and music!
May 29th – Gym to Crag – 2:00pm to 6:00pm
Albright, WV – Explore the fundamentals of climbing outside with the Gritstone team. We’ll be meeting up at the FOC Campground (139 Beech Run Rd, Albright, WV 26519). There, you’ll learn about the history of climbing in the area, enjoy a guided hike, and experience climbing on real rock. Make it an epic Memorial Day Weekend by camping out at FOC’s campground afterwards!
*New in 2021 – Although Cheat Fest is virtual, we still want to see your smiling faces, so we invite you to send along a video with your thoughts. You can use your phone (horizontal video please!) or a camera, have a friend help or shoot it as a selfie. If you can be out in nature, even better! Here’s what we’d love to hear:
Send along your video to us via this link by April 18th, and our team will gather them together to share with the Cheat Fest community. We can’t wait to see what you send us!
There’s so much more to come! You can always visit cheatfest.org for the latest details, and follow the Cheat Fest Facebook and Instagram pages to stay up-to-date.
Tips for Other Organizations Moving to the Virtual World
Organizing a virtual festival is quite different than an in person one – what a learning curve it was! Below are a few tips that we learned from our experience that we hope might help other folks who are exploring this space.
The Cheat River Festival, Friends of the Cheat’s annual kick-off to summer, was started by paddlers and river stewards to raise money to restore the Cheat River’s waters polluted from a century of coal mining. It’s now a celebration of two and a half decades of successful clean up efforts, essentially a family reunion, and importantly, a fundraiser supporting continued stewardship.
As you know, this year was different. The 26th annual Cheat River Festival, as a part of a world-wide community response to COVID19, was cancelled in the name of public health and safety. Cheat Fest is our largest fundraiser which contributes to the annual operating budget of FOC and we, along with so many, didn’t know how this loss might impact our financial stability. However, in the days after this difficult and unexpected decision, our community showed their unwavering support and continued to buy pre-sale tickets even though the festival was no longer happening. And, as the new world reality settled in, many folks reached out with ideas about how the community could still celebrate pieces of the festival from afar. The 26th Cheat Fest went virtual.
Virtual Cheat Fest was our week-long homage to the Cheat River Festival — and our goal was to share as much Cheat Fest magic as possible. Many aspects of the fest were transformed, the music, educational presentations, the 5K, silent auction, and even some fun for the kids – with hopes of sparking joy and a sense of connection within the extended Cheat River Family.
In so many ways, the virtual festival was a true, if not a little bit unexpected, success. In terms of fundraising, the silent auction, raffle, ticket sales and t-shirt sales all exceeded our expectations. Through the membership drive, we welcomed 24 new and 31 renewing memberships, and had as many as 2,700 folks engage on “Festival Friday” through social media. There were over 60 runners in the Virtual 5K, many sharing heartening and funny reflections about their run. We would like to share a big congratulations to Lowell Cerbone for winning the race! A true Cheat local; nice job Lowell! Almost all of the musicians scheduled to play the festival shared recorded sets from their homes, and dozens of song shares were sent in from the community. For a party where no one gathered, we definitely felt a sense of togetherness!
As with every Cheat Fest, it happened because of the collective effort of FOC staff and the generous and committed volunteers from the watershed community. In particular, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Adam Payne for organizing the bands and managing the live streaming aspects of the festival, Lisa Maraffa for organizing the silent auction, Joel Wolpert for creating and sharing his mini-film “Deep Breaths”, and Allen Davis for adapting his emcee prowess to the virtual world so beautifully. A huge thank you to the musicians who recorded their sets from home, to the festival and race sponsors, all of whom stayed on board after cancelling, to the folks who created Ed Eddy videos, to those at home who recorded themselves playing songs, and to those who contributed to the silent auction. In addition to the people who helped to create the festival was the incredible Cheat River community. A big thanks to everyone who donated, became members, ran the 5K, and who watched from home and carried on the Cheat Fest spirit! What a heartening display of Cheat River love. Especially in difficult times like these, showing up for each other in whatever way we can is incredibly important, and Friends of the Cheat is honored to have such a supportive community.
We’d like to invite anyone who didn’t participate to explore the virtual content which is all free and accessible through the website cheatfest.org. Learn about fishing on the Cheat in Garrett Richardson’s Ed Eddy talk, enjoy Joel Wolperts mini-movie Deep Breaths, and for those with extra time, tune in to the full seven and a half hour livestream of Saturday’s music on the Cheat River Festival Youtube channel.
There are still opportunities to donate to support Friends of the Cheat, all of which are accessible through our online store. There is a donation-based raffle for a custom Friends of the Cheat and river themed fire pit. Folks can donate $5 for one chance or $20 for 5 chances to win, and a winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 26th. This year’s festival t-shirts, which feature John Victor’s beautiful artwork, are also still available for pre-order through Memorial Day. The t-shirt printing company, SustainU, has recently reopened and is ready to safely print shirts. Once shirts have been printed, FOC will coordinate pick-up and delivery with buyers. Finally, FOC always invites folks to show their sustained support and become members!
One more big thank you to the festival sponsors. Without them, cancelling the in-person festival would have had a much larger financial impact on Friends of the Cheat. Their support, through rain, shine, and pandemic is truly valued and appreciated. Thank you to Caddell Mountain Ranch, Don & Susan Sauter, Highland Outdoors, Bliss Bliss Bliss, Green Rivers & all of our 5K and Down River Race Sponsors: PCPaRC, Mundell Financial Group, Heather’s Original Philly Cheesesteaks, Chrissy Zeltner & Haven of Healing Arts, Padlz Canoe & Kayak Rental, Dan Dascani & Morris Knowles & Associates, Darren Burton, and Blackwater Outdoor Adventures.
Thank you everyone who joined together from afar for our Cheat Fest From Home Week. Extra big thanks to the FOC staff, board, all of our volunteers, the musicians, speakers, community members, and sponsors, those who donated, those who ran the 5K, those who made art, those who tuned in from home to dance, and those who shared Cheat Fest memories on social media – THANK YOU! We cannot wait to see you all in person, by the river we all love. Until then, stay safe & supportive — hang in there — and remember that we are all in this together. I’ve got a few wrap-up announcements below. Remember, you can revisit all of the Cheat Fest content on the website: Cheatfest.org.
The Custom Fire Pit Raffle will remain open through Memorial Day; we’ll select a winner on Tuesday, May 26. If you haven’t yet, donate for your chance to win this beautiful, Friends of the Cheat & river themed piece. There really isn’t a better time than now to hang out by a backyard fire. All raffle proceeds directly support the work of Friends of the Cheat.
ALSO: We will contact silent auction winners individually to organize the safe distribution of all prizes.
Wow, we are so excited by how many folks joined us for this a lone, together run. Don’t forget to submit your final times & share your experiences. We will share our awards soon! We’ll be sending certificates of completion soon, and stay tuned for our Awards Ceremony later this week. If you haven’t yet, make sure to submit your race results here.
Some Quotes from the Runners:
“I was slow!”
“Wonderful! Beat my previous personal 5k record”
“It was a gorgeous morning for a walk. Birds singing, peaceful, sunny, and a nice breeze. I was able to enjoy God’s handiwork all around me as I walked through Mineral Wells, WV. Thank you for this opportunity!”
“Ran as a family like we usually do for Cheat Fest. :)”
“We ran from the very end of the Cheat River, to make it semi official. On the Sheepskin Trail. In Point Marion. It was just after a pretty good spattering of rain. So it was a little humid, and warm at close to 70°. I ran with my wife Jess and we practiced social distancing. We only saw a few others on the trail. And got our run in just before the session closed! We had a lot of fun. And were happy to participate and keep the tradition going!”
Long time Friend of the Cheat & Volunteer Cafe Coordinator Taryn with her Kiddos on their 5K!
Congratulations to Henry Hinnant for his beautiful, original Cheat Fest inspired artwork featuring Blackwater Falls – I love this! Thanks to everyone who colored & created with the Cheat in mind, keep it up! 
In case you missed it — Deep Breaths: A mysterious short film featuring SG, JT, JB & Jimbo. Original score by @kaiakater + @andrewdangerryan, sound design by the wolpertinger + @cusique, special thanks to jimbo, @6ab3, @bendingriverwoodworks and stubbs.
For those who can’t wait to re-live any of our live streamed content, you can head over to our Facebook & Youtube Channels to enjoy hours of fabulous sets from the Cheat Fest musicians as well as the Ed Eddy talks from FOC staff and friends and community song shares. Gratitude to everyone who contributed, and an extra extra big thank you to Adam Payne for organizing and streaming the music. You rocked.
Thanks to our festival sponsors for sticking with us through mud, sun, thick and thin. Their support is especially crucial in unexpected times like these, and we are incredibly grateful to have such wonderful businesses and individuals who have our back. Learn more about all of our wonderful sponsors here. Check out the latest issue from one of our sponsors and friends: Highland Indoor Quarantine Edition.
All of the bands slated to play Cheat Fest are PLAYING CHEAT FEST!
Thank you to these wonderful musicians. Enjoy music from members of:
The Boatmen, The Dirty Grass Players,
Stewed Mulligan, William Matheny, Hello June,
The Lords of Leser, Aristotle Jones,
Shelf Life String Band,
Cooley Gang, The Five & Dime,
Tom & Fiddle Mike, The Fly Birds
5:00PM Deep Breaths: A Mini-Movie Premier from Joel Wolpert
Silent Auction: Thank you to the generous donations from vendors, artists, and friends, and to our silent auction volunteer Lisa Maraffa. Bidding ends Sunday 5/3 at 5PM. Enjoy!
Online Store: Check out our online store to pre-order a 2020 Festival T-shirt (will be distributed after the festival). We also have a fabulous donation based raffle item up – the custom FOC fire pit. Finally, you can simply donate there too.
Become a Member: Members are the backbone of Friends of the Cheat. Become a member of Friends of the Cheat during Cheat Fest From Home week and get $5 off your festival t-shirt purchase – or any FOC merch! Your coupon/code will be
emailed to you, promptly.
This year, no matter what watershed you reside in, we welcome you to join us in the Virtual 5K Foot Race! All movement types are welcome – run, walk, roll, rollerblade, visualize a run from your apartment! Click here to learn more and register. Share your experience on our 5K Facebook Page.
A huge thank you to all of you out there who shared these songs from home. We love you!
Ellie & Ryan from the Woods
Trash on Tuesdays
Jason Jaros
Eric George
Two Ton Twig Members
Jim Meckley
Emily Carlson
Todd Burge
Rick from home!
Wanted Rivers, a Poem by Susan Sauter
Kelsey & Joanna
Loyalsock by Emily Carlson
Mermaids of West Virginia by Derek Proulx
Rodeo Girl by Gary Hoffman
Lea marra
George Bell
Honeysuckle and Thorn by Emliy Carlson
Dirt by Ben Dube
Eric Pifer playing Fire & Rain by James Taylor
Pap’s Cabin by Nae Paugh
Diane Henderson
Too Many Boats by Jerry Vandiver
I Love My Home, Down Country Roads by Jen Osha & Son
Ryan Gaujot
From the Hip from the 2014 Cheat River Festival
Ain’t No Ash by Emily Tanzey
Chris Felton
If you have a printer, print the Cheat Fest Artwork linked below, pick your favorite artwork and color it in with crayons, markers, paints, scraps of colored paper, dirt, or whatever you’ve got. If you don’t have a printer, no big deal, draw a picture inspired by the Cheat Fest Artwork OR create your own festival artwork!! Take a photo of your (or your kid’s) artwork (entries limited to: infinity), post it on our social media with the hashtag #colorsofthecheat OR e-mail it to cheatfest@cheat.org with the subject line: COLORS OF THE CHEAT. We’ll share them with the community and come up with winners based on unforseen and unknowable criteria! Big Thanks, as always, to many years of artwork from John Victor!
Subscribe To Cheat Fest From Home Emails