FLOYD - Music, food, and dancing are just a few of the attractions at the annual FloydFest.
It's a non-stop party, Thursday through Sunday, located in Floyd just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
In it's ninth year, this event has been growing in size and number each year. This time, as many as 14,000 people are expected to attend FloydFest.
Many of those people aren't even local.
Dondi Kimelman traveled to Floyd for the fourth year in a row to make it to FloydFest. She and her twin sons make the 8.5 hour flight from Germany each year.
"My sons talk about it every year," she said. "We go to FloydFest and they tell their friends in Germany all about it."
Kimelman says there are plenty of festivals back home in Germany, but they're no match for FloydFest.
"There's nothing like this where there's camping, and music and the bands," she said.
And those bands always seem to strike the right chord with the crowd.
Those sweet sounds, smells, and scenery are why Jeremy Carter has traveled from his home in Radford to attend every single FloydFest.
"It's really neat to see something like this begin and start so small and wonder if it would be able to become a tradition," he said.
But there's no need to wonder what will become of FloydFest anymore. An event that started with just a handful of people has grown to hundreds and now thousands.
"The growth is explosive," Carter said. "Every year there's an overflow of more and more people."
Some come to enjoy FloydFest for a day, and some camp out for the weekend.
Davis Whitehurst of Richmond brought his tents, mattresses, and children.
"We have a couple of air mattresses so we each sleep with a child," he said. "We have a lot of room."
And Ashlynn Maher brough her family all the way from Florida.
"I've been dreaming about it for the last six months, and now that I'm here it's just surreal," she said, "because I just love it here."
Even after all the traveling, visitors like Maher say they look forward to everything FloydFest has to offer.
It's an event that fans say never disappoints.
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