FAYETTEVILLE — Now over 60 years old, Fayetteville’s New River Gorge Heritage Festival has a heritage of its own.

The event, which kicks off June 29, will sprawl over an entire week this year, and include a June 30 performance by Taylor Made and some unique programming related to the Civil War Sesquicentennial.

When it began in 1951, it used to be called, simply, Fayetteville’s Fourth of July. In its original incarnation, it was fireworks and games, perhaps a small carnival, says Sally Kiner of the town’s Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. The American Legion was its primary sponsor.

Then, for numerous years, Charlie McCoy — a Country Music Hall of Famer from Fayette County — figured prominently in the event’s excitement. McCoy, who still has family in Fayetteville, would come home every Fourth and bring a big country act with him, showcasing the music in the town’s Memorial Building.

“It was the must-do thing to go to Charlie McCoy,” says Kiner, who remembers the event when she moved to Fayetteville in the 1970s as “small town fun” — frog jumping, turtle races, watermelon seed spitting, and the like.

In the ’90s, it began to expand in length and location, spreading from its original spot in Charlie McCoy Town Park into downtown, where Sunday’s Family Day included gospel sings.

Then sometime in the past 10 years it took on the name The New River Gorge Heritage Festival, as the town’s Fairs and Festivals Committee tried to think of ways to draw a broader audience to the largely local event.

Civil War re-enactors were brought in to emphasize the “heritage” in the festival’s title. Local crafters, quilters and artisans also underlined the theme.

“So it took on more than just fireworks and a carnival,” says Kiner. “And so it has evolved to this year, where it is a seven-day thing.”

The festival will still have the traditional Fourth of July activities — a parade on the 29th, fireworks on the 4th — but in a nod to the old days of Charlie McCoy’s performances, a big-name country act is coming to town.

On the evening of June 30, Taylor Made will perform live at the downtown stage at 6 p.m., followed by a “Fourth of July Musical Extravaganza” by local Jon Kemper at 8 p.m. in Historic Fayette Theater.

The evening of July 4, The McClymonts, an award-winning Australian country music trio, will take the stage at 8:10 p.m. at Town Park, right before the fireworks.

Fayetteville is competing against three other towns in a contest sponsored by WV Living magazine for best fireworks. Voting is at www. wvliving.com/Favorite-Fireworks-Vote/.

Four History Alive! Workshops and Chautauqua lectures related to the Civil War during the week of July 2 will bring the spirit of the past and re-enactment to the forefront. Clara Barton, David Hunter Strother, Stonewall Jackson, and Harriet Tubman will be portrayed by live actors.

“I imagine it will bring some Civil War buffs into town that might not otherwise come,” says Kiner.

Also new this year will be the local food vendors offering up specials in booths downtown June 29 and 30.

In terms of where the festival goes from here, next year will be the first for some time that the town’s Fairs and Festivals committee will not head up its organization.

Fayetteville Town Council voted to dissolve the board, feeling that it was time to get out of the festival’s business — which, by the way, isn’t a lucrative one in this case. Though the event does bring in revenue and helps support local businesses, it does not turn a profit.

Only time will tell who will take over, as no organization has yet committed to the task.

— E-mail: cmoore@register-herald.com