Highliners gather at Fourth Moon Camp for ‘Four’est Festival

By Vanta Coda III, Real WV

Highliners and slackliners from all corners of the United States congregate in the webbed canopy of a tree, with their climbing ropes and highlines streaking across wide stretches of the valley below. The Tuscarora Sandstone blade of Seneca Rocks is blanketed in mist due to the rain clouds overhead, yet the weather doesn’t dampen the activity and community found at Fourth Moon Camp’s Memorial Day weekend “Four”est Festival. 

Fourth Moon Camp was created in January 2021, led by Wade Desai, with the goal of offering more wilderness campsites, festivals, and slackline and highline aerial workshops to promote Appalachian conservation through recreation. Fourth Moon Camp’s grounds are on an undeveloped 175-acre private property located east of Seneca Rocks, a haven for highliners, slackliners, and aerial acrobats alike. This is one in a series of festivals that Fourth Moon Camp has hosted since its founding in 2021.

“This festival comes in two forms,” said Wade Desai, owner of Fourth Moon Camp. “During the years with a blue moon, which is about every 33 months, we have the Fourth Moon Festival. In years without a true blue moon, we host the “Four”est Festival. Both festivals are pretty much identical, with the Fourth Moon Festival being our growth period when we try out new features and offerings.” 

The festivals that Fourth Moon Camp hosts are about highlighting the Seneca Rocks area, from the Appalachian and mountain culture to the numerous outdoor recreational activities found in the area. Fourth Moon Camp and area residents aim to organize festivals that highlight the region, with a strong focus on community, primarily through the rock climbing, highlining, and slacklining communities that visit Seneca Rocks in increasing numbers throughout the year.

“We were most excited for the festival to be in May this year,” Desai said. “We have always held the festival at different times of the year to showcase the different seasons, but we had never held a festival in the spring before, so the cooler temperatures and fresh greenery were incredibly welcoming changes to this festival.” 

Desai and Fourth Moon Camp were inspired by how positively events like Bridge Day have drawn tourism and  attention to the New River Gorge. Fourth Moon Camp is deeply committed to sustainable forms of recreation, tourism, and support and for community and opportunity in Seneca Rocks. Events such as the festival have been successful in bringing repeat visitors, including Branden Kraynak from northern Ohio.

“I started coming here before there were any type of slacklines up,” Kraynak said. “When I became a climber, I started seeing other people doing tightrope walks up in the gunsite. Then this property was acquired, and the Forest Service granted Fourth Moon Camp permission to establish lines behind Seneca Rocks. So it kind of just stair-stepped from nothing to something.” 

Kraynak, along with other highliners from Fourth Moon Camp, helped set up a new line across the valley for the “Four”est Festival, anchoring the highline as well as clearing out brush and trees where the highline would go through. Even though the weather during most of the festival was rainy and overcast, the highline and slackline community made the trip and braved the weather for an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend in the Seneca Rocks community.