Well, you might think the oldest festival in the state is the Kentucky Derby, but it's actually the Kentucky Mt.

Laurel Festival in Painesville.

This past weekend was the 93rd festival, and it brings together people from all over the state of Kentucky.

Mount Law Festival, of course, has roots and tradition or certainly proud of it here, the oldest festival in the commonwealth.

Even older than the Kentucky Derby.

You have your princess coronation, your queen's coronation.

They have a downtown.

They have a parade.

It takes a lot of people to make this festival happen and a lot of work goes into it.

And the tradition makes it unique.

And the generations of the families and the generations that follow that have had their hand in making this festival happen.

I mentioned a lady in town that's 96 who was when I was younger.

You know, I always associated her with the Mount Laurel Festival.

Well, worked in about 60 years since 1947.

I started with floats, then different things.

And then finally in 1973, I believe it was, I became general chairman.

And I enjoyed every minute of it, every minute.

The pageant itself is unique.

Each college in the state is eligible to send a COIN candidate to Kentucky, Mount Laurel first, and we average somewhere between 16 and 25 candidates a year, and they are welcomed into people's homes.

So those those candidates stay in somebody's home.

We don't put them up in hotels.

We've been doing that since the first war began.

It's really a great example of how southern hospitality is still here in eastern Kentucky.

This is something that I've wanted to do for quite a few years.

There was a girl from my hometown who was a mount Morrow festival queen and 25 to you, and I remember just looking up to her so much.

Since being here has exceeded my expectation since all the girls, everyone who's helping with the festival, my host family, they've all been absolutely amazing.

It's really something so cool to be a part of, and it's something that I will cherish forever.

Pikeville has honestly become another second home this weekend.

I met so many people and members of the community that have enjoyed to me in ways that they don't even understand right now.

And so I'll definitely want to come back and be able to contribute to the festival and contribute to the park communities once again.

Ellie Grace McGowan.

Our objectives are to support and promote higher education and to help preserve and maintain the heritage of the Kentucky Mount.

While first of all, we do that through scholarship awards.

The young ladies that come here for the festival, both as the Princess and for the Queen candidates, they're exceptionally good, which if you read their resumes and what they've done in college and what they've done in high school so far, absolutely amazing.

And what we want to do is support them as they try to navigate their way through a very expensive educational process.

Our 2024 Kentucky Mount Laurel Festival Queen Ms.. Whitney Taylor Caldwell.

Well, this is the 100th anniversary of our family reunion here in Painesville.

Our father was here in the civil Conservation Corps and was one of the ones that helped build the park.

And the night before the first Mt.

Laurel Festival in 1938, he was charged with clarifying the reflecting pool.

All those years that we came here.

There was always a special feeling, and I've thought about it over the years, and it's still here today in this town.

And it's like a feeling of love, I think.

And so I think Palmer has hung on to that for a lot of places.

And certainly economically things have changed.

But there's still a spirit here that goes all the way back to those early days.

You can come here the 1st of May and drive through our downtown and then you can come back the Memorial Day weekend.

And people have freshened up their yards.

They've done their landscaping, they've painted their homes.

Panvel is a better place for the Kentucky.

My wife.

That coronation ceremony took place in the Pine Mountain State Park, which celebrates its 100th anniversary.

This year.