City of War opens vendor applications for fall festival

The City of War has opened vendor applications for its fall festival, giving local sellers a path into one of the small town’s biggest annual economic draws while laying out rules that could decide who gets in and who is left out.

A May 8 notice on the city’s official news page directs applicants to the state payment portal at wvgopay.gov, where they must scroll to City of War and click Event Application. Vendors can also pay in the city office by cash, check or card, or mail their materials in, a mix of online and traditional options that makes the process accessible for residents and small businesses that may not want to rely on a single payment method.

The 2026 Annual War Fall Festival is set for Friday, Sept. 11, and Saturday, Sept. 12, under the theme “Patriot’s Harvest: Honoring Our Heroes.” The city’s event listing says the festival will bring live music, vendors and crafts, food and treats, kids’ activities and patriotic tributes to town, giving downtown War a two-day boost just as fall festival traffic begins to matter for local foot traffic and sales.

The vendor agreement adds the practical rules that matter most to anyone trying to sell food or merchandise. Spaces are 10-by-10, no non-emergency vehicles will be allowed inside the festival area during the event, and setup is not permitted until the posted time in the setup and operational guidelines. Food vendors must secure and maintain their own health-department certifications and approvals, which means a seller without the right paperwork from the McDowell County health department could be turned away before the booths open.

The city also says food trucks and trailers will not be provided. Instead, they will be assigned designated spaces marked “FT,” a detail that makes advance planning essential for mobile vendors deciding whether War’s festival is worth the trip.

The new notice builds on a familiar local tradition. War’s 2025 fall festival was scheduled for Sept. 5-6, 2025 and included entertainment, vendors, sweet and savory food trucks and a Wild West reenactment. That same year’s parade lineup was set at the old Big Creek Gym parking lot, with the parade starting at 10 a.m. McDowell County Commission archives show War Fall Festival coverage going back at least to 2008 and 2018, underscoring how long the event has anchored the town’s civic calendar.

War, incorporated in 1920 and home to 690 people in the 2020 census, is a city where a festival notice carries more weight than a routine event post. In a place tied to the Rocket Boys and Big Creek High School history, the fall festival remains both a community gathering and a small but meaningful market for downtown sellers, nonprofits and food vendors looking to meet local demand.