The Blue Ridge Bee Festival

The Blue Ridge Bee Festival is a FREE community event aimed to promote all things bees, pollinators, native plants, and local food in the Blue Ridge region!
The festival will be hosted at Falling Creek Park in Bedford, Virginia, 10am-6pm.
The festival will have:
-A swarm of 50+ vendors
-Guest Speakers
-Honey Tasteing
-6 observation hives
-Kids Activities
-Music
-Food Trucks
-Demonstrations
-Mead & Craft Beverages
-Giveaways & Raffle Items
& More!
Itinerary:
10:15am-10:45am – Jack Dean – Jack Dean – State Farm Insurance Agent – Insurance for Your Bee Yard and Farm Produce Market Items with Q&A
10:45am-11:15am – Lee August – Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary – Biodynamic & Sustainable Beekeeping: How Can We Serve the Bees?
11:15am-12:00pm – Keith Tignor – VDACS State Bee Inspector – Bee species and other Pollinators in Virginia: The origin and importance of honey bees in Virginia, principles of managing honey bees, and improving the health of our pollinator populations.
12:15pm-2:15pm – Music – Virginia Hollow
2:15pm-3:00pm – Jessica Driver – VDACS Regional Bee Inspector – What Makes a Healthy hive? The inspection of a hive, things to look for, and things to do around the hive.
3:00pm-3:15pm- Giveaway Drawings – 2 Nucs + 2 Bee Keeping Classes*
3:15pm-3:30pm- Raffle Drawing**
– (1) Starter bee hive 10 frame with all supplies needed to get started!
– (1) Bug Hotel from Bedford Cooperative, Inc
– (2) $25 gift cards from Moneta Farm and Home Center
– (3) Native Plants from Rainfrost Nursery
3:30pm-5:30pm –Music – Brent Monster Band
*1 nuc + bee keeping class per winner. Bee nucs are from Bee Happy Farms in Brookneal and classes are sponsored/taught by the Peaks of Otter Beekeepers and the Piedmont Beekeepers Association. Entry tickets can be filled out at the information booth, 1 ticket per person. The winner(s) would have to buy their own equipment and have taken the class if they are a new beekeeper before they get the nucs in the spring. The class is during the winter. If the winner of a nuc is an experienced beekeeper and already has their equipment they would not need to take the class. If they do not want the class then the class will be raffled off in a separate drawing.
**Raffle tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the information booth.
Kids Activities:
Butterfly Bingo – All Day – Find at least 8 of the 12 of the hidden butterfly pictures located at various vendor booths, get your card stamped, and turn in your bingo card to information booth to get a FREE packet of flower seeds!
Craft Activities: 11am-4pm – A super fun mix of facilitated & non-facilitated activities (i.e seed bombs!) with Virginia Cooperative Extension 4H + Bedford Extension Master Gardeners
Face Painting: 11am-5pm – Wild Child Face & Body Art – Booth 49
Flower Crowns: Veneanar’s Emporium – Booth 50
Inflatable – All Day
Mamas Helping Mamas Mother Baby Services – Breast Feeding Tent for Moms located by the kids crafting area.
Parking:
5 large parking areas to choose from (see map for site locations)
The Shuttle Bus be available for the parking area beside the Sheriff’s Office from 10:00am-4:00pm
DO NOT park on the side of the roads or block traffic to the nursing home.
Beverages:
The Bedford Area Family YMCA will be serving a refreshing mix of mead from Atheling Meadworks, cidar, and both domestic & craft beer.
Some of the craft beer and cidar brands on hand include Potters Craft Cidar, Three Notch’d Brewery, and Beale’s.
Workshops & Demos- Ann Zudekoff with Crazy A.Z. Bees and Bee Educated
Make Your Own No Cook Bee Fondant – 10:30am-11:00am
Make Your Own Lip Balm – 3:30-4:15pm
Food Trucks:
Copper Dog and Co
Porter House BBQ and Catering
Poppy Allen
Emmadale Takeout
Thai spice
Virginia Kettle Corn Company
Bistro Catering & Food Truck Services
Birrieria La Vaca
Paper Dragon
Bros & Sis

Sponsors:
Bedford Outdoor Adventures
Bedford County Parks & Recreation
Bedford Area Family YMCA
VABF Virginia Association for Biological Farming
Peaks of Otter Beekeepers
Piedmont Beekeepers Association
Dadant & Sons
Jack Dean – State Farm Insurance Agent
Crazy A.Z. Bees & Bee Educated Ann Zudekoff
Bee Happy Farms
Destination Bedford Virginia
Centra

VENDORS: $30

Vendors must feature items that are original, handmade, or locally produced and related directly to pollinators or bees.

Please fill out the form to apply for a spot at the festival. (Submitting this application does NOT guarantee participation)
Vendor Application: https://forms.gle/y8CufgCosqbBsdLK9
https://www.facebook.com/events/972083411081422/