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The legendary monster of Flatwoods, West Virginia comes to life in the annual Braxton County Mountain Lakes Festival.
Have you seen the Flatwoods Monster? Celebrated throughout Braxton County year-round, this terrifying legend is a highlight of the annual Mountain Lakes Festival, according to Melody Urbanic, vice president of the Braxton County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB). This year, the Mountain Lakes Festival takes place July 20 to 22, 2012, at Sutton Lake, with activities like the arts and crafts fair on Main Street.
Have you seen the Flatwoods Monster? Celebrated throughout Braxton County year-round, this terrifying legend is a highlight of the annual Mountain Lakes Festival, according to Melody Urbanic, vice president of the Braxton County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB). This year, the Mountain Lakes Festival takes place July 20 to 22, 2012, at Sutton Lake, with activities like the arts and crafts fair on Main Street.
Sixty years ago in the town of Flatwoods, a handful of local residents say they saw something extraordinary. On September 12, 1952, they described a glowing red light in the night sky and a monster “at least 10 feet tall, with a green body and a red head that appeared to glow from within.” This spawned the original Flatwoods Monster Festival, held each September. Legend has it that, on the night in question, two young brothers and their friend saw a “large, pulsating ball of fire” and the creature itself.
Celebrating the monster—and really, all the region has to offer—begins in July, as the Braxton County CVB invites a bigger-than-life monster to the Mountain Lakes Festival. There is also a display of the history of the legend, including posters, books, and articles written about that day in 1952.
Mountain Lakes Festival highlights also include the canoe and kayak float, ski show on Sutton Lake, a cook-off, race, arts and crafts, and pasta and jazz night.
More information is available at mountainlakesfestival.com.
