The fifth fall on North Charles Street

Earth Grounds Street Fest 2026 in Downtown Charles Town, WV

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November 7, 2026 · Photographed by Aaron May

Three bands & aerial silks Free portraits at the mosaic 23 local makers

On Saturday, November 7, North Charles Street in downtown Charles Town closed to cars and filled up with makers, food trucks, three bands, aerial silks, and a portrait bench in front of the big mosaic wall. It was the Earth Grounds Street Fest, and this was its fifth fall. I was there all day with my cameras, and I ran the free portrait station at the mosaic.

If you sat on that bench, or just walked past my lens somewhere between the honey and the bluegrass, your photos are in the gallery, and the button above goes straight to it. If you've never been to the Street Fest, keep reading. You'll want to go in the spring.

The Earth Grounds Street Festival banner over North Charles Street, with hay bales, yellow mums and pumpkins on either side of a patterned runner

How I got here

How a moon got me to Charles Town

In August I photographed Tomato Jam at Sistermoon Farm, where I ran a portrait booth built around a giant wooden crescent moon. A few weeks later, a message came in from Austin Huff of Earth Grounds Landscaping. Sister Moon had sent Austin my way. Austin wanted a photographer for the whole fest and, if we could pull it off, a portrait area on the street, right in front of the mosaic.

I love when one community event leads to the next. Around here it happens all the time, and it's one of my favorite things about working in the Eastern Panhandle. It even came with a familiar face on the bill: New Way Drive, who played the Tomato Jam main stage in August, closed out this one too.

Five falls in

A landscaper's street party

Here is the part I didn't know until I went digging. Austin grew up in Charles Town and started out helping with the family lawn business, mowing neighbors' yards as a kid. Before there was a street fest, Austin was a vendor at other people's downtown events, setting up a table to tell people about the business. At one of those events, the thought landed: I could bring vendors together and do this myself.

The first one, in November 2022, was a kickoff for Kindness Month. There was no band and no food truck yet, just a small group of vendors on North Charles Street. Every fall since, it has grown. This year brought 23 local makers, seven food and drink vendors, three bands, aerial silks, and a bounce house. In May it added a spring edition.

When Austin talked about it on the Tea with Leigh podcast this spring, the reason was simple. Earth Grounds doesn't have a storefront downtown, and neither do a lot of the artists and small makers who sell at the fest. The Street Fest gives them a street.

The Earth Grounds crew gathered among hay bales and mums on North Charles Street, a white church steeple at the end of the street

The day, as I saw it

Photographing the fest

It was a chilly, gray morning that turned into a bright blue afternoon, the kind of November day where everyone is in a jacket and a beanie and nobody wants to go home. Fall leaves on the pavement, string lights over the street, the church steeple at the far end, and a whole town out at once.

The stage corner of the festival in afternoon sun, a child dancing across a painted yellow star in the street beside the vendor tents

String lights crossing over North Charles Street under big clouds, the vendor tents and a church steeple at the far end

The music ran all day from a stage set right in front of the mosaic. Jade Tremba opened at eleven, with Marc Levine on drums. Milo and The Anarchy Farm, who call their sound Appalachian punk, took the middle of the day. New Way Drive closed it out with hard-driving Shepherdstown bluegrass as the light went long.

A singer with an acoustic guitar performing behind hay bales and pumpkins in front of the mosaic wall

A guitarist in a red sweater and green cap singing into the microphone, the mosaic wall behind

A banjo player in a plaid shirt singing at the microphone in front of the mosaic wall

A full band with congas, keys and guitars playing in front of the mosaic wall, the crowd seated in the street

A four-piece bluegrass band with mandolin, upright bass, resonator guitar and banjo playing in front of the full mosaic wall

Then there were the aerialists. The fest billed aerial silks dance by Eliza Barr throughout the day, and the rig in the middle of the street saw red silks in the morning, a hoop at midday, and gold silks in the afternoon.

An aerialist stretched out in red silks on a tripod rig over a patterned rug, the mosaic wall behind

An aerialist hanging upside down from a hoop, long hair falling toward the rug below

An aerialist spinning in gold silks, hair flying, a second performer in black watching from the side

Up and down the block, makers sold flowers and honey, rings made from old silverware, stained glass, crochet, masks with antlers, art, and baked goods. Kids found the bounce house and the slime bar. A live painter worked at an easel in the middle of it all. Charles Town Now ran The 1786 bar, where the menu had an Earth Grounds cocktail of apple cider and bubbly.

A vintage clothing seller in a red paisley dress smiling in front of the clothing racks

A baker in an orange sweater holding up two wrapped cookies at the Baked Dilse table

A green beaded masquerade mask with antlers on a black display head

The Ronnie's Rings maker behind a table of rings made from upcycled silverware

The Bunker Hill Apiary beekeeper holding up a jar of honey behind the table

A crochet maker in a green sweater working on a piece behind a table of crocheted cupcake animals

A maker in a knit hat and plaid scarf smiling beside shelves of small glass terrariums

A painter seated at an easel in the street, working on a landscape in front of an art tent

A chalkboard sign in bright pink, blue and green letters reading Go Sister Slime Bar

Two cooks smiling from a food truck window, one holding out a plate

Two Charles Town Tree Board volunteers standing at their table, one leaning on a walking stick

A woman walking a big white Great Pyrenees down the festival street

A florist in a green Walking Wind Farm and Florist apron holding up a dried flower wreath behind a table of fresh bouquets

A bounce house shaped like a skid loader set up in the street, a church steeple at the end of the block

The empty portrait bench in front of the tile and mirror mosaic wall, mums and pumpkins at both ends

Free, all afternoon

Portraits at the mosaic

My station was a white bench in front of the Charles Town mosaic, with mums and pumpkins at both ends and one softbox overhead. Charles Town Now pitched it as a chance to get your Christmas card photo, and around thirty families, couples and friend groups took them up on it, dogs included.

The wall itself is worth knowing about. It was made in 2018 by the Philadelphia mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar, together with more than 600 volunteers who pressed tile, mirror and found objects into it over five days. Look closely and you'll find the town's name, the words EMANCIPATION and "justice for ALL," rivers and caves and kayaks, all set in materials the community collected for it.

Two women in black kicking up a leg and throwing their arms out in front of the mosaic

A woman in a red paisley dress on the bench, a friend leaning in from behind, both laughing

A couple in denim and hats standing close in front of the mosaic

A man seated on the bench with a small fluffy dog in the crook of an arm

A couple on the bench leaning down to a shaggy brown dog

A couple sharing a kiss in front of the mosaic

Five people in Earth Grounds hoodies and fall layers piled onto the portrait bench at the mosaic, one stretched out across the front

A couple in matching Earth Grounds hoodies laughing at each other on the bench

A couple kissing on the bench with their brown dog between them

The portrait setup from the side: a softbox on a boom stand aimed at the bench in front of the mosaic

Go find them

The makers

Austin started this fest to help small makers get seen, and that's what these photos are for too. These are the vendors on this year's list.

And to eat and drink: Cousins Maine Lobster, Fried Rite, Ms Hong Kong Bubble Tea, Simply Smoothie, Tapas Mar by BYOG, Taste of Philippines, and The 1786 Pop Up Bar.

Find your Street Fest photos

View the photos

One gallery: the portraits at the mosaic, plus the whole day. Tap the heart on the ones you love and it keeps them together for you.

Thank you

Thank you to Austin and the whole Earth Grounds crew for building this, and for asking me to be part of it. To Sistermoon Farm for sending Austin my way. To Jade, Marc, Milo and The Anarchy Farm, New Way Drive, and Eliza for filling the street. To Dylan Leipold for the poster. To Charles Town Now, every vendor, and everyone who sat on that bench in the cold. See you in the spring.

The rest of the year I photograph weddings and elopements around Shepherdstown and Harpers Ferry. If that's a thing you need, here's how to check a date.