PRINCETON, W.Va. (WVVA) – Sunday saw the inaugural ‘Fly Away Home Festival’, an event that honored a local legend while giving back to the causes she supported.

“It’s important to realize that if you want to make social change in your community, you have to speak the language, and really support the local culture,” said Jonah Kone, a volunteer event organizer of the event.

Those words emphasized the meaning of the day, as the inaugural Fly Away Home Festival kicked off at Glenwood Recreational Park.

June 1 marks what would have been Hazel Dickens’ 100th birthday, and the festival served as a vessel to celebrate and honor her memory and the causes she advocated for.

Dickens was a singer and songwriter from Montcalm, and Kone said she was a labor activist and supporter of miners’ rights, which translated into her music.

“One of the beautiful things about Hazel Dickens is she was able to promote the causes she was passionate about in a language that people understood,” continued Kone.

The festival is all to benefit the Black Lung Association, with the hope of spreading awareness to people about black lung disease, and the impact it has on coal mining communities.

“It affect[s] everybody, it affect[s] the whole state. It affect[s] the coal miners’ wives and their kids,” said Gary Hairston, President of the National Black lung Association and the Fayette County Black Lung Association.

Kone also emphasized that their urge for awareness is all in the name of preventing the same struggles miners faced in the past.

“We have to remember the struggles that our ancestors fought for, or else we’re going to repeat them,” said Kone.

And while the Black Lung Association will benefit from this event, Hairston still had words to share with the public.

“I want them to know that we need all the help that we can get,” added Hairston.

Kone told WVVA that they hope to make this a yearly event.

You can learn more about Hazel Dickens’ story on the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame Website.

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