One old oil and gas engine on display during a previous West Virginia Oil and Gas Festival.

Welcome to Historic Sistersville for the 51st annual West Virginia Oil and Gas Festival to be held this weekend, September 12 through the 14. Free admission to the grounds is again offered for 2019.

Throughout the town, puht-puht sounds can be heard from the numerous gas engines and the working “Little Sister Well.” This is a signal for the beginning of the Oil and Gas Festival celebration.

The festival will officially open on Thursday at 10 a.m., with the old gas engine show being the featured activity. Designated as Senior Citizens Day, entertainment will be provided by Mountain State Bluegrass Express at 1 p.m. This is a well-known group that returns every year. The group always has new surprises that will certainly entertain grandparents, grandchildren, and everybody in between. At 5:30 p.m. performances on the stage will be gospel singers (individuals and various groups.) Concluding the evening activities will be a talent show, beginning at 7 p.m. Age divisions are 12 years and under, 13 to 17 years, 18 years to 35 years, and 36 years and older. Trophies are presented to three winners in each division and “Best of Show.” No entry fee is required.

On Friday, the old gas engine show continues. The popular Gib Morgan Wrench Throwing Contest begins at 6 p.m. Gib Morgan was born in Pennsylvania and worked in the oil fields. What he will be remembered for was not the hard work or long hours he put in the oil fields, but for the stories he told. He was for real and once lived in Sistersville. Other various entertainment will be available on Friday.

A busy Saturday tops the schedule. The old gas engine show continues. An antique road and custom show will begin at 9 a.m. at City Park Practice Field. This show represents the AACA Fall Meet. The “West Virginia Oil and Gas Man of the Year Luncheon” will be held at First Presbyterian Church, beginning at 10:45 a.m. Beginning at 1 p.m., the “Grand Oil and Gas Trophy Parade” will dazzle the streets of Sistersville, followed by the super Oil and Gas Band-a-Rama at Tyler Consolidated High School.

Pictured is this year’s West Virginia Oil and Gas Festival Queen Ashton Rexroad.

Following the parade, children’s games and activities will be held. A corn hole tournament and special entertainment will highlight the schedule for City Park.

Featured all three days at the festival are the Oil and Gas Expo exhibits, craft sales and demonstrations, a country store, educational exhibits, oil giveaways, food booths, game booths, window displays in the business area of town, Greg Holdren’s rock climbing wall and inflatables, commercial booths, and festival sale booths.

Historical walking tours are available throughout the festival. Visit the operating “Little Sister Well,” a great tourist attraction. Visit the Sistersville Museum and look back into history. An art show will be held throughout the weekend at the Gaslight Theater in downtown Sistersville.

The 2019 West Virginia Oil and Gas Festival Queen Ashton Rexroad – who was selected at the queen’s pageant on July 13 at the Sistersville Gaslight Theater – will be present throughout the festival.

Organizers of the 2019 festival encourage everyone to visit and participate in honoring the oil and gas industry – past, present, and future. Come and enjoy and make new friends!