October 8, 2022
ABOUT
The theme of this year’s folklore festival is “Witching in Western Pennsylvania,” a fascinating and entertaining look at how witchcraft and folk magic have been a part of our history since colonial times. In particular, we look at how English and German settlers brought their beliefs in magic with them from the Old World–sometimes with dangerous consequences.
Please note, we neither promote nor practice the demonic black arts of witchcraft or Satanic worship.
The Pig Lady of Cannelton
The annual Pig Lady Festival charity event is a family-friendly festival celebrating local folktales, legends, and lore of Beaver County, Pennsylvania and surrounding region.
The festival’s origin can be traced back to long-standing community Halloween celebrations hosted by the Little Beaver Lion’s Club in Cannelton, Pennsylvania. However, the current Pig Lady Festival was founded by Darlington native Michael Kishbucher in partnership with The Social Voice Project and several other local organizations.
The first Pig Lady Festival was held in October 2019 in Darlington, Pennsylvania. The festival had to be cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020, but it returned in 2021 in partnership with the Little Beaver Lion’s “Pumpkin Palooza” celebration held in New Galilee, Pennsylvania. Our 2022 festival on October 8th marks yet another exciting event in partnership with the Little Beaver Lions and Pumpkin Palooza.
Previous Festivals
On episode 26 of Tony Lavorgne’s Legends and Lore Podcast, we go on-location to Darlington, Pennsylvania to cover the 2019 Pig Lady Festival, hosted by Tony Lavorgne and featuring the Ohio Paranormal Investigation Team.
The Pig Lady Festival is a fall community celebration of local folklore in the tradition of the Gaelic Samhain “end of Summer” festival commemorated with games, bonfires, and ghost stories.
This year’s festival recreates Samhain with old Irish games like bobbing for apples, a costume contest, a bonfire, and local ghost stories told by paranormal author, researcher, and podcast host, Tony Lavorgne. The evening included a discussion of the haunting of Gretchen’s Lock with Melissa Rhodes Hornbeck and Claudia Lewis Esken of the Ohio Paranormal Investigation Team. The evening ended with a film screen of Gretchen’s Lock, a Josh Menning film adaptation of the Little Beaver Creek legend.
Visit the 2019 PLF webpage.
On episode 28 of Tony Lavorgne’s Legends and Lore Podcast, we go on-location to New Galilee, Pennsylvania to cover the 2021 Pig Lady of Cannelton Fall Folklore Festival. This year’s theme is “Close encounters in Beaver County.”
Recorded before a live audience, folklorist Tony Lavorgne explains the nature of local legends and lore, and he recounts the tale of Barbara Davidson, the Pig Lady of Cannelton. Special storytelling guest Brian Seech recounts the world famous 1966 UFO chase from Ohio to Conway in Beaver County, along with other tales of unexplained flying objects in our night skies. Brian also shares other paranormal tales of bigfoot sightings and more strange encounters throughout Western Pennsylvania.
The Foster Family of Enon Valley, Pennsylvania make up East of Enon, a traditional bluegrass, country, and gospel group that is this year’s musical guest.
Visit the 2021 PLF webpage.
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