RADFORD – Radford City’s Glencoe Mansion, Museum & Gallery has received $5,000 from the Virginia Tourism Corporation to help market the 2022 Mary Draper Ingles Festival.
The organization is one of 259 local and regional tourism marketing programs across the state to receive funds to increase visitation and revenue.
Glencoe is partnering with Long Way Brewing, historic Ingles Farm, the Radford Info & Welcome Center, the Radford Chamber of Commerce and the Wilderness Road Museum in Dublin to bring back the iconic celebration that commemorates the capture of the frontierswoman, her escape and return to the New River Valley during the French and Indian War.
“We’re so excited to be able to plan this weekend for our regional residents as well as tourists who have shown a great interest in this story for decades,” said Scott Gardner, Glencoe’s executive director. Activities include tours of Mary’s ancestral farm, still operated by her descendant Col. Lewis “Bud” Jeffries, historic reenactors, live music, period costumes and dancing, a petting zoo, food trucks and the reintroduction of a special craft beer created by Long Way Brewing and named for the colonial heroine.
Celebrating the Virginia legend’s epic journey is the overarching message to attract visitors to the New River Valley where they can see, hear and feel the experiences of settlers in the early years of America’s development and the westward migration. In 2017, Virginia’s General Assembly established the last Saturday in July as Mary Draper Ingles Remembrance Day.
“These grant funds provide an important opportunity for communities across the Commonwealth to accelerate recovery efforts and continue with their best-in-class marketing initiatives to attract new travelers,” said Rita McClenny, president and CEO of Virginia Tourism. “Increased visitation translates directly into revenue generation, underscoring tourism’s important role in stimulating economic growth and expansion,” she added.
The VTC Marketing Leverage Program is designed to increase visitor spending by leveraging limited marketing dollars, stimulating new tourism marketing through partnerships, and extending the “Virginia is for Lovers” brand.