Celebrate Easter in West Virginia

For many, Easter is a time for rebirth, renewal and reflection. It’s also a time for celebration and family fun. Here are a few ways to celebrate Easter in Almost Heaven.

Egg Hunts

West Virginia State Parks, including Pipestem, Tomlinson Run, Twin Falls and North Bend, are hosting BYOEB (bring your own Easter basket) egg hunts this year.

Blackwater Falls offers a twist on the traditional egg hunt with a Flashlight Egg Hunt. Take on a tougher challenge and hunt by the light of the moon (and your flashlight or phone light) to find eggs filled with treats and surprises, then sit by the bonfire for hot chocolate and s’mores. (There will also be a daytime egg hunt and photos with the Easter Bunny.)

The resort parks have restaurants, so bring the kids for the hunt Saturday, then stay for an Easter Sunday buffet the next day.

Meanwhile, Greater Huntington Park & Recreation District is hosting an Easter Egg-Stravaganza at Ritter Park. The massive hunt will feature 20,000 candy- and toy-filled eggs, inflatables, a First Responder Touch-a-Truck, adoptable pets and of course, the Easter Bunny himself. Look for the golden eggs to win special prizes!

Homemade Chocolate Eggs

It’s become annual tradition for the Friends of the Sutton Public Library. Every year, volunteers get together to mix up hundreds of pounds of chocolate-covered peanut butter Easter eggs. But you’d better put your order in quick because they sell out every year. A project that started in 2001 with 300 eggs now has expanded to 1,500 sweet confections produced every Easter.

DeFluri’s Fine Chocolates in Martinsburg makes a variety of scrumptious eggs dipped in dark or milk chocolate and filled with buttercream, peanut butter, coconut or even chocolate raspberry truffle.

Candy Craft in Chester makes dark and milk chocolate truffle eggs and chocolate bunnies and chicks of all sizes to fill up your Easter basket.

And of course, many churches, youth groups and civic organizations sell chocolate eggs for Easter, so check your community bulletin board listings to find a sale near you.

Easter Carnival at the Capitol

Celebrate Easter with Governor Jim Justice and First Lady Cathy Justice as they carry on the tradition of the Easter Carnival. Typically held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday, this family-friendly event takes place on the North Plaza of the State Capitol Complex. The carnival is free and fun for all ages, with prizes, crafts, food and an appearance by the Easter Bunny.

Amazing Eggs

Science merges with Easter at this nature discovery event March 31 at West Virginia Botanic Garden. Learn all about birds’ eggs and their wide range of sizes and colors. Did you know that some birds lay eggs the size of jellybeans, while others lay eggs the size of softballs? Or that eggshells come in a variety of colors? A basket of birds’ eggs might include every hue from white to yellow to tan to blue to speckled and beyond – that’s quite the Easter basket! The event will include a special guest: a real, live bird of prey courtesy of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia. So, move over, Easter Bunny — it’s the Easter Raptor!

This post was last updated on March 17, 2022