Cupcake Festival queens led a line dance during last Thursday’s Night Market.

The West Virginia Cupcake Festival returned to Valley Park this weekend for its eleventh year of offering sweet treats to the community. With the addition of the August Night Market into the festival lineup, the West Virginia Cupcake Festival has gone from a one-day event to a three-day affair which runs from Thursday through Saturday. The festival was created to raise money for local children’s charities through event fees and sponsorships. The Make a Wish Foundation was the charity chosen to benefit from this year’s festival, and a check for $5,000 was donated to the organization.

The Cupcake Festival features a wide variety of events and activities, from musical entertainment by local bands, a cruise-in/car show, games and crafts for children, and numerous local arts and crafts vendors.

A new event this year was a cupcake pan slinging contest in the baseball field beside the conference center. Participants had to fling a cupcake pan as far as they could across the field, with the distances being measured by a referee. While there were many impressive throws, Justin Williams, the park director, threw his cupcake pan an amazing 128 feet and 3 inches.

What could be a cupcake festival without a cupcake eating contest? Ron Foreman of Maysel, West Virginia, was this year’s winner.

The Pupcake and Friends Pageant this year was dedicated to the memory of Kelsey Post Durst, and sponsored by her family and friends. Durst, a veterinary technician, passed away in 2024 from breast cancer at the age of 33.

The Grand Champion winner of the Pupcake Pageant was Ember, a German shepherd owned by Sandy Lake of Hurricane. Ember also won Best Trick.

The West Virginia Cupcake Festival is known for its cupcake competitions, which feature the talents of both professional and amateur bakers from all over the state.

The winner of the 2025 Vendor Competition Cupcake Master Award was Taraific Treats, owned by Tara Hensley of Ravenswood. The winning cupcake was molasses spiced cupcake with apple and pumpkin filling and molasses buttercream frosting. The molasses used in the cupcake was produced in West Virginia. Taraific Treats also won vendor awards in 2019 and 2021.

The Queen’s Choice First Place Award went to Christy’s Cupcake Creations of Cross Lanes for their cookie batter cupcake; Second Place went to Rolling in the Dough of Scott Depot for their caramel frappe and cookies and cream cupcakes; and Third Place went to Batter’s Up of Nitro for their tiger’s blood cupcake.

Jessica McKown of Orma, West Virginia, won the Best Tasting and Best Decorated Cupcakes in the Amateur Cupcake Competition.

The organizers of the West Virginia Cupcake Festival look forward to next year’s big event.