Vinton County Wild Turkey Festival crowns royalty, fills downtown with music
Paisly Kirby was crowned queen after McArthur’s Grand Parade as the 42nd Wild Turkey Festival filled downtown with music, contests and civic pageantry.
The Wild Turkey Festival’s biggest moments belonged to the people who put McArthur’s civic traditions on display, not just the performers on stage. Paisly Kirby was crowned queen Saturday night after the Grand Parade, with Gracelyn Adams named first runner-up and Dacee Karr second runner-up, as downtown Vinton County again became the center of the county’s public life.
The 42nd annual festival ran Thursday, May 7, through Sunday, May 10, along the U.S. Route 50 and State Route 93 intersection, where it has been held every year except 2020 since 1985. That location matters as much as the entertainment: for four days, the same downtown streets that carry everyday traffic became the stage for parade-goers, families, food vendors, amusement rides, and the long-running royalty contests that still define the celebration.
Sunday added the festival’s younger traditions. Greyson Fout was crowned Little Mr. Gobbler and Klaire Howdyshell was crowned Little Miss Gobblerette at 3 p.m., followed by the Little Miss Queen and Court crowning at 3:30 p.m. Those contests, along with the baby contest and karaoke contest promoted by festival organizers, showed how deeply the event still leans on family participation to keep the weekend anchored in local hands.
The festival’s roots also reached beyond pageantry. Its name honors Vinton County’s role in re-establishing the Eastern wild turkey in Ohio, after the bird had disappeared from the state by 1900 and was brought back through mid-1950s reintroduction efforts using live-captured birds from West Virginia. That history has helped make the festival more than a street fair. It is a county marker, one that links McArthur’s downtown celebration to a broader conservation story tied to southeastern Ohio.
Music and civic institutions filled out the weekend’s identity. The Vinton County High School Band, under Avery Bamfield, played at the opening ceremony Thursday. Friday’s lineup included Tyler Reid, Twyla May and The Twylights, while Lisa Kirby added karaoke to the mix. Smokey Bear’s appearance in the Grand Parade, as a guest of the Zaleski Fire Department, gave the event a public-safety presence as well, while the Country Roads Quilt Guild Quilt Show at Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library, the Queen’s Luncheon at Central Elementary School, and Sunday’s reptile exhibit sponsored by Buckeye Hills Career Center showed how many local institutions still help define the festival.
With free admission, no parking fees, and sponsors including Jason Williams/Buckeye Land Sales, Austin Powder, Bud’s One Stop, McArthur Lumber & Post, Vinton County National Bank, General Mills and Atomic Credit Union, the 2026 festival drew its strength from the same formula that has sustained it for decades: downtown McArthur, local institutions, and a public celebration that still belongs to Vinton County.
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