Trail Days

Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia is this coming weekend.

Get ready to party.

Appalachian Trail Days is back again at the “Friendliest Town on the Trail.” And that means a solid week of hikers parading through this little town at the edge of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, not far from where Virginia meets both North Carolina and Tennessee.

Smack dab along the Appalachian Trail, Damascus hosted its first Trail Days Festival in 1987.

Each year since, it has hosted a celebration with music, crafters, outfitters, trail organizations and food vendors in the town park.

Assorted events through the next week include trail hikes, a pet show and a screening of the film “Grizzly Park” at the Rock School Auditorium.

Full day festival activities begin on May 16 and continue through May 18. Events include lectures, demonstrations and slide shows about “thru-hike” experiences. Films will be shown throughout the week on wolves and wilderness experiences presented by the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Interior/Fish and Wildlife Service and others.