First ever Shindy Music Festival comes to Shinnston

SHINNSTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — The City of Shinnston is bringing something new to the table with its first-ever Shindy Music Festival this weekend.

The Shindy Music Festival was created by locals of the Shinnston area in hopes of showcasing a variety of our state’s very own wild and wonderful musicians.

22 different bands and artists are set to perform throughout the weekend ranging in a mixture of diverse genres from rock to country to indie. The festival is a free event for the public and will be held at Ferguson Memorial Park in Shinnston.

12 News spoke with the co-director of The Shindy Music Festival, Brendan Gallagher, on the importance of offering platforms like this for local musicians.

“I think one of the mistakes that people make when they think of music in the state of West Virginia, is ‘well we need to bring in these big artists from outside the state.’ We’re dumping money into all these bands that go elsewhere. If we were actually helping to grow the music careers of local bands here, we could be having way more ‘Brad Paisleys,’ way more of the ‘Kathy Matteas’ and the ‘Michael W. Smiths’ who’ve all come out of this state. If we were to put money into these artists that are here, we could help them grow their careers in ways that people wouldn’t even begin to fathom, and we can be known as a state that supports what’s happening here and grow with these artists,” said Gallagher.

Gallagher also mentioned that attendees are planning to travel from as far as South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia to see some of the acts in the lineup.

The Shindy Music Festival kicked off at 1:00 pm on Friday and will continue into Saturday evening. A full list of who’s performing at the festival and when can be found on The Shindy Music Festival’s Facebook page.