New Deal Festival
The New Deal Festival is held annually on the second Saturday in July to celebrate the unique history of the nation’s first New Deal Subsistence Homestead Community of Arthurdale. The event is sponsored by Arthurdale Heritage, Inc., the non-profit organization that formed to “restore yesterday for tomorrow” with the mission of preserving the history of Arthurdale for generations to come. This quaint 1930s-40s style festival features artisan demonstrations, craft market, children’s activities, new exhibits in the New Deal Homestead Museum, tours of the Arthurdale Historic District, a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt, and much more. Arthurdale was founded in 1933 as the nation’s first New Deal Subsistence Homestead Community by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. The community provided jobs, education, and modern housing for impoverished, unemployed miners living in destitute coal camps in West Virginia. It also served as a laboratory for new educational, industrial, and farming techniques.