FLOYD, VA — Reimagining and reincarnating a cult classic, FloydFest and Across-the-Way Productions, Inc. bring back Floyd Fandango Showdown Throwdown on Saturday, June 25, 2016 at the FloydFest site, presented by Bank of Floyd and Virginia is for Music Lovers. A celebration of beer, cider, wine, food, music and outdoor adventure, Floyd Fandango delivers an old-school festival vibe for its regional tribe. In addition to beer, cider and wine tastings, the festival features a farm-to-table meal, free camping and parking, free workshops, and outdoor competitions, such as the Moonstomper Mountain X Cross Bike Race, Innova Disc Golf Tournament, ‘Rundango’ 5K Trail Race and the inaugural Floyd Fuel Four-Lapper Beer Run.
Tickets are on sale now at www.atwproductions.com/event/floyd-fandango-showdown-throwdown/, and cost $15 in advance or $20 at the gate for General Admission, which includes free overnight camping and onsite parking; kids age 12 and under are admitted free. Up-sell tickets are also for sale for the Farm-to-Table Meal ($20), Moonstomper Mountain X Cross Bike Race ($8 advance/$12 gate), Innova Disc Golf Tournament ($8 advance/$12 gate) and Rundango 5K Trail Race ($8 advance/$12 gate). All workshops are free, and the $20-team-entry for the Beer Run can be purchased onsite.
Gates open at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, at the FloydFest site, located at Milepost 170.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (894 Rock Castle Gorge Road) in Floyd, Va.
Like all Across-the-Way productions, music takes center stage at Floyd Fandango, hosted by newgrass maestros Blue Mule. Throughout April and May, Across-the-Way Productions and FloydFest hosted a battle of the bands every Saturday night at its venue in downtown Roanoke, Va., The Phoenix. Each night, audience votes determined which band from this process would enter FloydFest’s heralded On-the Rise Competition — sponsored by Ferrum College, Farm To Feet, and Peluso Microphone Lab, LLC — and grab a performance slot at Floyd Fandango. Music is scheduled from 11:15 a.m. to midnight, featuring sets from Rebekah Todd and The Odyssey, Forlorn Strangers, Skribe, OcTo Pus, doby, Urban Soil, FeelFree and, of course, Blue Mule!
“Fandango pulls together our core loves of On-the-Rise Competition bands and the great outdoors, neatly packed into one adventurous day!” Kris Hodges, Across-the-Way Productions CEO, said. “After culling hundreds of submissions we brought together a healthy competition of amazing bands! All bands were then chosen via an audience vote at The Phoenix, our cubby of cool in downtown Roanoke, to showcase their stuff on the spectacular Streamline Stage at Hill Holler. We’re proud to see these up and coming artists from all over the East Coast come together in kindred sprit to pour their hearts out!”
Floyd Fandango patrons can heed the call of the wild via the festival’s off-the-beaten-track adventure competitions, including the Moonstomper Mountain X Cross Bike Race, traversing across stages, jumping logs and climbing ridiculous hills, the family-friendly Innova Disc Golf Tournament, and the ‘Rundango’ 5k Trail Race. To sweeten game-day, the top three male and female winners of the events receive robust prize packs from festival partners. And that’s not all — care to be the first Floyd Fandango King and Queen of the Mountain? As a new element to the ‘Rundango’ 5K Trail Race and Moonstomper Mountain X Cross Bike Race, a male and female King and Queen of the Mountain will be crowned, based on the top aggregate times from both races. Phenomenal prize packs await the winners, as well as royal crowns and treatment and all the pomp and circumstance organizers can muster and manifest.
In addition to music, workshops, camping and outdoor adventure, Floyd Fandango is all about craft libations, and organizers have worked to have every craving covered, with a healthy helping of beer, wine and cider on the menu. Upon entry, every patron receives a beer pint or a wine glass, as well as three wooden tokens (or “pogs”) that can be exchanged for alcohol samples. Beyond that, tastings and full pours are available for purchase and partying by stopping by the conveniently located Pog Sales Tent. Tokens/pogs cost $2 each.
Here’s how it works — between 1:30 and 7 p.m., 30-minute tastings will take place in Fandango’s onsite ‘Drink Tank’ every 45 minutes, hosted by libation expert and entertainer Neil Williamson. That’s five total tasting sessions — one for cider, two for beer, and two for wine; each session will include a variety of ciders, beer, and wine. At all times, craft libations (by the taste, glass and bottle) will be for sale on the grounds — so no one will go thirsty!
To participate in the tastings, the entry requirements are such:
• Beer — Four pogs to enter (receive eight two-ounce pours)
• Cider — Four pogs to enter (receive eight two-ounce pours)
• Wine — Four pogs to enter (receive four two-ounce pours)
(NOTE: If you’d like to participate in a tasting halfway through a session, you will be allowed to enter for two pogs, as opposed to four.)
Drink Tank times with libation-focus are as follows:
• Beer — 1:30 to 2 p.m.
• Wine — 2:45 to 3:15 p.m.
• Cider — 4 to 4:30 p.m.
• Beer — 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.
• Wine — 6:30 to 7 p.m.
New at Floyd Fandango in 2016 — the Farm-to-Table Meal (5 to 7 p.m., June 25, $20) is a unique up-sell option to truly round out your holistic Fandango experience. Featuring all local ingredients (mostly from Floyd’s Riverstone Organic Farm), and cooked by Martin’s Downtown onsite, this Farm-to-Table Meal offering includes ethically raised Appalachian pork BBQ, roasted potato salad, fresh coleslaw, sweet cornbread, and a beer or wine pairing, care of Parkway Brewing Company and Childress Vineyards. The meal is served family-style on Floyd Rustic furniture in FloydFest’s Pink Floyd beer and wine garden, with acoustic music by Blue Mule.
If that’s not enough to encourage you to ‘skip the light Fandango,’ free workshops take place from 11:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m., including a disc golf clinic, bike clinic, Appalachian storytelling, acupuncture, stilt walking, lucha libre mask making and more.
“As much as we have going on, the beauty of Fandango is that it’s simple. Lots of easygoing fun packed into a singe day with something for everyone,” Erika Johnson, Across-the-Way Productions CFO, said.
For more information, visit www.atwproductions.com/event/floyd-fandango-showdown-throwdown/ or www.facebook.com/FloydFandango/, email info@atwproductions.com or call (888) VA-FESTS.
Free workshops at Floyd Fandango
Fandango offers a lil’ bit of everything for everyone. All day Saturday we’ll be offering FREE workshops, on the Workshop Porch, in the Children’s Universe, and on the Main Field.
• 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. — Disc Golf Clinic (Disc Golf registration tent)
• 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. — Bike Troubleshooting Tips: 7 Common Bike Problems and How to Solve Them (Workshop Porch)
• 1 to 1:45 p.m. — Appalachian Storytelling (Children’s Universe)
• 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. — Pints and Poses: Yoga with a twist! (Main Field)
• 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. — De-stress to Impress, with Queenpin Acupuncture (Workshop Porch)
• 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. — Fantastical Found Fandango Fairy Houses (Children’s Universe)
• 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. — The Secrets of Hypnosis Revealed: Transformational Hypnosis (Workshop Porch)
• 4:30 to 5 p.m. — Open Stilt Play with Miss Kitty’s Cosmonauts
• 5 to 5:45 p.m. — Appalachian Storytelling (Children’s Universe)
• 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. — Luche Libre Style Mask-Making
