By Brian Carlton – 6/19/15
WAYNESBORO, Virginia
[dropcap]D[/dropcap]owntown Waynesboro isn’t large enough to hold the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival anymore, organizers say. A lack of space to expand, combined with upcoming construction and other issues caused the festival’s director Beau Beasley to announce that beginning in 2016, the event will move to the Meadows Events Park near Richmond.
The Waynesboro Fly Fishing Festival drew crowds and fly fishing celebs like Lefty Kreh and Wanda Taylor.
“We outgrew things and it was time to move,” Beasley said. “People will say what about Ridgeview Park, what about Fishburne, what about holding it near the Wayne Theatre, but those wouldn’t fit our needs.”
The festival, which saw an estimated 2,000 attendees this year, was looking to continue to grow, Beasley said. However there wasn’t enough space in downtown Waynesboro, where he could make sure all of the vendors were under a roof. One of the problems for the festival in the past, Beasley said, was the fact a bad weather day stopped people from coming. If the vendors were under a roof, then it could go on rain or shine. They will have that ability to go indoors at the Meadows Events Park. The new site also gives festival organizers the opportunity to expand, Beasley said. That includes adding events to possibly bring in a teenage crowd and get them interested in fly fishing.
The Virginia Fly Fishing Festival was created in Waynesboro 15 years ago, as part of Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc.
Other sites in Waynesboro either didn’t have access to electricity, which is needed to run some of the exhibits, or they didn’t have the access to the South River. Beasley said his group also had concerns about how they would operate the next two years while the Virginia Department of Transportation started planned renovations to the Main Street Bridge, less than 500 feet from where the festival would take place.
Artists the caliber of Thom Glace, who is also an avid angler, were always a part of the festival.
It was a place those interested in fly fishing could learn during lectures from different experts and practice skills in training sessions. As time went on, several Virginia wineries started showing up, providing free wine tastings. Due to its success over the years, the group separated from WDDI and became its own nonprofit. Through those years, Beasley said he appreciated the hard work and support from groups like the Waynesboro police department, the city’s fire department and places like the local Holiday Inn and Quality Inn.
Both Beasley and city officials said they wished there had been more communication, in hopes of keeping the event in the city
“We’re very disappointed that he didn’t talk to us beforehand,” said Waynesboro economic development director Greg Hitchin, adding that he learned about the decision by reading the release. When asked about communication between the two groups, Hitchin said Beasley hadn’t reached out and the economic development office hadn’t contacted the festival organizers. That didn’t change after the release went out.
“We’ve had no discussions with him before or after the release [about this],” Hitchin said.
The same goes for the city staff, as Waynesboro’s Deputy City Manager Jim Shaw said there had been no communication with the festival organizers.
There’s never been an independent study done, detailing the festival’s financial impact on the city. Unlike some other festivals in the area, over the years it changed from a free event to one where admission was collected. Originally, there were more local residents attending, but as the fee was applied, Beasley said the numbers started to shift. In the last two years, he estimated that between 80 to 90 percent of those attending were from outside of Waynesboro.
