Meet the Mountains Festival creates immersive outdoor experience at Winged Deer Park

Sunny skies and scattered rain showers graced the second day of the Meet the Mountains Festival on Saturday. With an assortment of activities for the thousands of people visiting the festival at the Winged Deer Park Lakefront, there was no shortage of smiling faces from kids and adults alike. Tosha Yoder, Visit Johnson City event coordinator and Meet the Mountains Festival director, and Kelly Johnson, Visit Johnson City scheduling and education coordinator, each agreed the annual festival helps participants to engage with the area's nature. "Winged Deer literally puts you in the middle of nature, and that's the whole point of the festival, is to be immersed in our natural assets and the outdoors and just take in all that we have here," Yoder said. "We truly are surrounded by some incredibly natural features." The festival's activities consisted of a rock climbing wall, Ultimate Air Dog competitions, a zipline, axe throwing, paddle boarding area, education clinics and e-Bike course. Yoder said some of the festival's new stations this year, such as the Appalachian Highland Games and the atlatl throwing station, also seemed to be popular additions among the attendees. "I have seen the Appalachian Highlands Games have quite the little crowd here and there, which is great because that was one of the new things we were really hoping to get some traction on this year," said Yoder. "As far as the atlatls, I think they have also been pretty busy, especially in their position down there by the zipline. They have a lot of kids and a lot ofo traction." Yoder and Johnson added the Meet the Mountains Festival also gives people an opportunity to know what outdoor spaces and activities are available to them to visit and enjoy in Johnson City. "Last year when we came back on Sunday morning…we had seen multiple people come and bring fishing poles, they had their Meet the Mountains t-shirts on, they were coming just to enjoy the park space," said Yoder. "That was an encouragement to me because that helped me know that people are just organically coming back to the park…and that's very encouraging to know because that means we're doing our job celebrating the outdoors and making sure people are aware that this is a space for everybody to access." "This is also a really amazing space that has the playground and the green space to just come out and enjoy and be by the lake and spend some time outside," Johnson added. Mother-and-son duo April Covington and Zachary Covington were just two of many who rode on the zipline at the festival. April said it was their second time at Meet the Mountains, and this time, the goal was to participate in as much as they could. "We had such a great time, so this time we wanted to come out again and do the zipline and maybe the Highland Games over there, and just get to try new things and get to know more about the community," she said. April explained she and her family moved from Florida a year ago. As a newer resident to Tennessee, she said the festival is an ideal place for families to spend time together and acts as a way to show what the area has to offer. "I think it's a great way to introduce people to outdoor activities to get away from screens and just make memories with family, and being intentional with that bond," she said. "You can try these things for free…things you wouldn't normally think of, and it introduces you to get out more." Meet the Mountains also had many vendors present, with Yoder saying this year's festival hosted more than 90 small businesses. One among the total was The Alchemist, which sells candied, chocolate-covered orange slices, and is owned by Jose Mejia and his wife, Glorianna Mejia. It was their first time attending the festival, but Jose said the experience was nothing short of pleasant. "I've really enjoyed the people coming around during the festival," he said. "Everybody's been enjoying and trying our product and enjoying their time." Jose and Glorianna each agreed the festival also helps small businesses, like their's, grow and reach a bigger customer base while giving people the chance to enjoy the local nature around them. "I think it's a good opportunity to see local businesses in the area and also get a chance to be at the local park," Glorianna said. "Personally, I live here, and I barely come to this park. You can go out into the water and everything – there's just a lot of activities that you can do here."