By Amanda Barber and Will Carroll

June 20, 2022 - Yakfest and Tour de Coal, a joint event, returns this year with kayaking, great food, funky music, and fun for the whole community.

The Tour de Coal float trip, which aims to highlight recreational water activities, kicked off with kayakers launching on the Coal River at Meadowood Park on Friday. Further down the river in St. Albans, Yakfest started its festivities with live music, art, food, craft beer, and other vendors.

Yakfest vendors included many community favorite vendors such as Dem 2 Brothers, Coal River Coffee, Rocky Mountain Rafts, and Crafts of the Coal Ice Cream.

“Everyone has been super friendly, very inquisitive of the products we offer. The festival has been great, the city of St. Albans and the Coal River group who run it have been great and we can’t wait to come back next year,” said Brandon Moschino of Rocky Mountain Rafts.

“It’s a great way to promote tourism, and like I said, it’s a fundraiser for the Coal River Group and it’s a way for us to put money back into the river system to promote tourism and economic development along the rivers.”

JOE LINVILLE, MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR COAL RIVER GROUP

Yakfest and the Tour de Coal are annual events. Linville says to anyone who has never gone kayaking should come out next year for an adventure on the Coal River.

“If you’ve never done the Tour de Coal it’s something you should experience at least once in your life,” Linville said.

For more information on Tour de Coal visit their website.

For more information on Yakfest visit their website.