I seem to be in the midst of a festival frenzy, and I think festivals are a hit. Though not in the New River Valley, a couple weeks ago I went to Artscape in Baltimore, thus beginning my recent festival odyssey.

It was my first taste this season of that combination of odd fried foods (gator, anyone?), arts & crafts, live music, and lots of sweat. The Baltimore weekend was followed by a pre-festival concert down in Abingdon that launched the Virginia Highlands Festival. That festival runs through Aug. 10, so you still have time to catch it.

Then came FloydFest (for which you can see our highlights and photos) and now comes Steppin’ Out in Blacksburg (Aug. 1-2). I like a lot about festivals, not so much the sweating. First of all, I love the fact that they bring all sorts of people together … making the people watching a fantastic pastime. In just a couple weeks I have seen an amazing array of people and fashion, and I’m looking forward to what Blacksburg might offer at Steppin’ Out.

As someone who absolutely loves live music, the fact that I’ve seen about 20 bands in the past couple weeks, including Rusted Root twice (Baltimore’s Artscape and FloydFest), and I hope to see at least a dozen more at Steppin’ Out.

And while I’m not a fan of consumerism, I do like the fact that local vendors—especially artisans and crafters—have a chance to show their wares to a wider audience at these festivals.

As for this week’s miss. It’s the economy … and specifically here in the New River Valley. While festivals are generally a boost to local economies, there is no question that the economic situation in the New River Valley could certainly be better. I drive along Main Street in Radford, Pulaski, Pearisburg, etc., and I see businesses closing their doors and vacant buildings on every block.

Just recently it was revealed that jobless rates are up in Virginia. In the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area, jobless numbers jumped from 4.4 percent in June 2007 to 6 percent this June.

Virginia’s jobless rate in June (4.2 percent) was the highest state unemployment rate in more than four years. So while the entire state is struggling, the NRV is struggling a bit more. What can we do? Good question. What I do know is that the various chambers of commerce and other economic development organizations need to come together to promote the NRV as a whole. I know some are doing this, but more can still be done. And I believe we have a responsibility to shop locally as much as is possible. I fully believe that we can make our local economy, which is currently a miss, eventually into a hit.

Tim W. Jackson is Editor of the New River Voice.