2019 Flip Flop Festival - April 27-28

The 5th Annual Flip Flop Festival is this weekend. So much is happening this year. There's the traditional core educational activities for prospective flip floppers, including pack shakedowns, and well as social activities.

There are also guided hikes, a group bike ride, bird watching (full - sorry), yoga at 8am tomorrow, a Festival Quest across 14 businesses that each have a state sheet with a fun fact about flip floppers (with cash prizes for winners), bands, and vendors. There are games for kids, a hike "for kids of all ages," the African American History Hike, hikes and talks about historic areas within the park, two flip flopper kick-offs (one Sunday and one Monday).

The town is having their own craft beer and wine tasting at the gazebo, 2 short blocks from ATC, in an event not officially part of the Flip Flop Festival, on Saturday afternoon.

REI is offering gear repair and water filtering clinics, a storytelling hour with 2 staff member (including James Randall, of the "Don't Be That Guy" Leave No Trace video series (not "that guy," the other guy), Anne "Shivers" Baker from ATC, and Eliane "Tumblelina" Coates, followed by a Celebration of Flip Floppers. Blue Ridge Bucha will be there, and in the afternoon there's a ring toss for prizes from REI. It's not easy, but even if you don't win a prize, the proceeds from ticket sales benefit ATC. Same for the Blue Ridge Bucha sales. All at The Barn of Harpers Ferry.

For the first time, a free shuttle is being offered, that runs from Harpers Ferry Middle School at the far end of Bolivar all the way to lower town Harpers Ferry.

The program ends with a night-sky viewing program being offered Sunday 8:30-9:30pm

All the details are at www.flipflopfestival.org.


Oh, and here is one of the most interesting and novel programs :

Sunday at noon on Forest Bathing: Reconnect with Wild Places
1:30p – 3:00p | – The Joy of Forest Bathing: Reconnect with Wild Places and Rejuvenate Your Life (at ATC).
by Melanie Choukas-Bradley. There’s a growing body of evidence that the practice of forest bathing – known as “Shinrin-yoku” in Japan, where the phenomenon started – can help boost immunity and mood and help reduce stress. Forest therapy is now gaining popularity as a way to reconnect with nature for health and many other benefits. Melanie Choukas-Bradley, certified forest therapy guide and author of The Joy of Forest Bathing, joins us for a talk on the practice and benefits of forest bathing. The A.T. footpath where it is heavily traveled may not be the most conducive place to do this, but I would love to see local trail clubs identify places in the corridor, in non-peak times, where people could do this. Of course anyone can take 5 minutes during a hike to do a little forest bathing.

If you've ever wondered what Benton MacKaye meant when he talked about this: "to walk, to see, and to see what you"--then I think this is it.

Commercial Vendors
Bones & Beads
Chestnut’s Beeswax Wraps
Harpers Ferry Outfitter
Jacks Are Better Ultralight Camping Quilts
Mountain Trails
Mountain View Gourds
Paint Splash
Sketch & A Prayer
Stoneybrook Farm
Tiffany Miller Massage
Town’s Inn

Not for Profit Vendors
Appalachian Long Distance Hiking Association
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
AT Museum
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Harpers Ferry Park Association
International Order of Odd Fellows
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
Sierra Club
Thad Lamar On The AT (Documentary Film)
Trail Dames

7:30a – 9:00a | Hiker Pancake Breakfast at the Camp Hill-Wesley Church | A full breakfast is offered for hikers and their family and friends to fuel up before heading out! Breakfast is offered at no cost to hikers, and for non-hikers (family, friends) a donation of $5 is requested but not mandatory. Thank you for your support!

9:00a – 9:30a | Flip Flopper Send Off at ATC Headquarters | Join us in sending the Class of 2019 Flip Flop Thru Hikers off on their way! Bring a camera and catch the group before they start hiking.

Workshops Held in Curtis Freewill (CFW) Church Conference Room
10:00a – 10:50a | Not Finishing is NOT Failing & Hiker Hacks
11:00a – 11:50a | Backpacking Food and Trail Nutrition
12:00p – 12:50p | Forest Bathing – Reconnect with Wild Places
1:30p – 3:00p | BOOK SIGNING – The Joy of Forest Bathing: Reconnect with Wild Places and Rejuvenate Your Life (at ATC)
1:00p – 1:50p | Best Foot Forward! Proper Care for Your Feet
2:00p – 2:50p | Appalachian Trail 14-State Challenge
3:00p – 3:50p | Women on the Trail
(see Workshop Details)

Outings & Special Activities
9:00a – 10:30a | Discover 19th Century Virginius Island (Meet at flood marker in Lower Town)
9:00a – 11:00a and 1:00p – 3:00p | Two-hour Walk for Kids of Most Ages
10:00a – 3:00p | Backpack Shakedowns (CFW Church Lawn)
1:00p – 2:30p | C&O Canal Towpath Bicycle Ride (Meet at Maryland end of train bridge walkway)
1:00p – 3:00p | Guided African American History Hike (Meet at ATC)
7:45p – 9:45p | Ghost Tour of Harpers Ferry (St. Peter’s Church patio)
(see Outing & Special Activity Details)

Vendors and Bands at Festival Central – Vendors will be again be staged at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge lawn directly behind the ATC building at 799 Washington Street. Additionally, the stage and bands will be co-located so you can check out vendors, grab some food, and enjoy the music. The line up for Sunday is:

11:30a – 1:30a | The Mailboxes
2:00p – 4:00p | Todd Coyle

Festival Quest – Festival Quest is a seek-and-stamp scavenger hunt where participants seek out certain locations throughout town and obtain a unique stamp (supplied by the merchant), a state related fact, and try to answer a Flip Flop Fun Fact at each location that will be supplied by the Festival to the merchant to ask. When a participant has the fact recorded, the answer to the specific question, and finally the stamp from each location, they will turn in their completed stamp sheet to be verified and included in a drawing for monetary prizes.

This activity will take place on both Saturday and Sunday, with a drawing for winners held Sunday at 4:00pm.

If a merchant is not open both days the seeker will be permitted to take a photo (showed to Festival Staff) of the closed store for credit.
A participant does not have to be present to win one of three prizes and can be notified by phone.
Stamp Sheets will be provided to seekers and will be obtained from and returned to the ATC office when completed for verification and submission for the drawing.

7:00p | Wild East | Appalachian Trail Conservancy program at The Barn of Harpers Ferry. Spearheaded by the ATC, Wild East is a public awareness initiative that unites people across the country in protecting the largest, contiguous open space in the eastern United States. The backbone of Wild East is the Appalachian Trail, which is more than a footpath in the woods. With scenic views, native plants and wildlife, American history, and unique communities, the Wild East landscape is a destination that should be recognized worldwide. Attendees will learn about the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s efforts to protect the Appalachian Trail and its landscape; why this landscape should be valued; and what it truly means for hikers to become conservationists.

8:30p – 9:30p | Constellations and Celestial Objects: Gazing at the Night Sky | On Mather lawn. Astronomy is often regarded as our oldest science. Humans have long looked up at the night sky wondering what’s up there and how all of this come to be. Come learn about the exploration of our night sky while familiarizing yourself with some of our most notable constellations and celestial objects. Presenter Matthew Lamar provides an interpretive talk that he developed while recently working as a ranger at Death Valley National Park, third and largest International Dark Sky Park. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Resource Management Specialist Andrew Lee will provide an introduction. Bring a flashlight and something to sit on. In case of inclement weather an indoor program will be offered in the Curtis Freewill Baptist Church.

I am looking forward to next year's flip flop festival.

Is the much of a northbound bubble following the festival?

I'm seriously thinking about a lash in 2020.