2026 Press

Local festival brings awareness to domestic violence By Terry L. May News Editor

Local festival brings awareness to domestic violence

Appalachian News Express-By Terry L. May News Editor-Oct 20, 2026

Music, arts and info highlight Mountain Grrl Experience

Dolly Parton Tribute Fundraiser 8/26

Mountain Grrl Experience plans bigger and better event after moving to Coal Run Park

Mountain Grrl Experience makes its way to Coal Run for another year of celebrating Appalachian Women

We were named an “East Kentucky Local Hero” by Double Kwik!

Mountain Grrl moving to new location

Woman by Jeri Katherine Howell—music video with footage from 2025 Mountain Grrl Experience

We became a non-profit thanks to an exciting new partnership with Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky!

2026 Happenin’s

←We raised over $1500 by auctioning 4 ukuleles decorated by artists and musicians at Healing Appalachia 2025. Thanks to Abe Partridge, Isaac Denton, Jimbo Valentine & Dave and Teresa Prince (Laid Back and Luna)

We represented at the Hillbilly Days Festival→

Featured in KFW’s Vlog. Click image to read the article.

Women’s History Month-recognized by Appalachian Arts Alliance and Mountain Top News—>click image to view our episode.

We donated 40 ukuleles + a week of lessons for students at Flat Gap Elementary with funding assistance from Can’d Aid and Arts for All Kentucky

Press 2025

Click the image above to read or listen to the broadcast.
Header image of a mountain landscape with trees and clouds, and a website menu with options such as lodging, see & do, where to eat, shop Hatfield McCoy, contact us. The website is for Pike County, and features a blog about mountain experiences.

Click the image above to read all about it.

Press 2024

Page spread of a magazine article titled 'Commitment to Community' featuring photos of musical performances and community events at the University of Pikeville.
Appalachian News Express Article 6/22/24
We are named one of AAA's TOP EVENTS in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia! Click to read more!
Appalachian women performing music on stage at Mountain Grrl Experience festival.
A collage featuring a magazine page about Blue Ridge Country Festivals and Events Guide for 2024 and a photo of children sitting outdoors. The magazine page lists various festivals and events with dates, including a highlight of the Jackson Square Lavender Festival in Tennessee. It also shows an image of a live music performance and includes promotional links for more festivals, with a red arrow pointing to a photo of children mimicking playing musical instruments on a bench, captioned as being from Pikeville, Kentucky.
We are included in Blue Ridge Country Magazine's Festival Guide! Click here to read

Mountain Grrls are added to HOLLER CRITTERS playing cards! #tourpikecounty

Magazine cover titled 'AAA WORLD' May-July 2024 featuring a cow skull with horns on a blue wooden background, and an open magazine page highlighting the 'Mountain Grrl Experience' event in Pikeville, Kentucky from June 20-22.

Press 2023

Screenshot of a news article titled "Appalachian women shine at Mountain Girl Experience" from Kentucky Arts & Culture section, authored by Cheri Lawson, published on June 26, 2023.
Online article titled 'Don’t want to go big? Here are Kentucky’s best intimate music festivals' with a video thumbnail showing a man playing an acoustic guitar, performing at a surprise concert in Eastern Kentucky.
Two young women performing music on an outdoor stage at the 2023 Mountain Grrl Experience. One is playing the violin, and the other is singing and playing a guitar. The stage has various equipment and a backdrop banner with sponsor logos.
NPR Lexington's Radio News Leader logo with station number 88.9 WEKU
Click here to listen to Cheri Lawson's Mountain Grrl segment on NPR Affiliiate WEKU's Arts and Culture
Four women performing live music on an outdoor stage, playing guitars and a banjo at the Mountain Grrl Experience in Pikeville, Kentucky.
Bluegrass Today logo with white text and a blue globe icon on a dark blue background.

Feature in Bluegrass Today Magazine

  • A sign with the text 'You are enough' written in stylized black cursive script, and a cartoon illustration of a hand pointing with the index finger, showing red nails, on a white background. The scene appears to be outdoors with trees, a red canopy, and a brick building in the background.

    Mountain Top News

    The Mountain Grrl Experience will kick off its 3rd annual festival on Thursday June 15.

    Click Here
  • Young woman in field with long dark hair, sitting on colorful woven blanket, holding an acoustic guitar, smiling, wearing white shirt and brown boots.

    Tour Pike County

    Rebecca Lynn Howard Returns Home to Eastern Kentucky: The Mountain Grrl Experience

    Click Here
  • A group of women performing live on an outdoor stage with guitars and microphones, under a canopy with string lights, during a festival in Pikeville.

    Appalachian News Express

    Mountain Grrl Experience held in Pikeville

    Click Here

  • WYMT

    APP hosts art exhibit focused on celebrating the ‘Mountain Grrls’

    Click Here
  • Text reading 'Help For Appalachian Women Is Focus Of The Mt. Grrrl Experience.'

    Tourist and Visitor Guide: Eastern Kentucky & The Country Music Highway

    Help for Appalachian Women is focus of the Mt. Grrl Experience

    Click Here
  • Mountain Grrl Experience Scheduled

    Appalachian News-Express

    Mountain Grrl Experience Scheduled

    Read here
  • Mountain Grrl Experience: More than a Music Festival

    Mountain Association

    Mountain Grrl Experience: More than a Music Festival

    Read Here
  • Two women are engaged in a conversation inside a building with large glass windows and vending machines in the background. One woman has brown hair and is wearing a brown shirt, while the other has dark hair with blonde highlights and is wearing a black shirt with torn sleeves. There are vehicles and a golf cart visible outside through the windows, and signage promoting radio stations and communication services on the wall above.

    What the Shuck Podcast

    Description goes here
    Click Here
  • Sandy Penix being interviewed at an art exhibition with framed artwork displayed on the wall behind her.

    Mountain Top News

    Mountain Grrl Experience Art Exhibition to Debut Ahead of the Festival goes here

    Click Here

Press 2022

We won a Traverse Award from the Kentucky Travel Industry Association!

We won a Traverse Award from the Kentucky Travel Industry Association!

Certificate of award from The Kentucky Travel Industry Association for the 2022 Bronze Traverse Award in Experience Development, presented to Pikeville-Pike County Tourism CVB for The Mountain Grrl Experience.

The Mountain Grrl Experience was recognized in partnership with Pikeville-Pike County Tourism by receiving a Kentucky Travel Industry Association (KTIA) Traverse Award for Excellence in Marketing in November, 2022. Pikeville-Pike County Tourism’s collaboration with the Mountain Grrl Experience was recognized with a Bronze Award for Experience Development. Read all about it here.

Mountain Grrl Experience in the News!

  • A woman standing next to a display table with three portraits on easels, in an indoor art gallery setting.

    Martin County-Tug Valley Mountain Citizen Article

    Read Here
  • Four women on stage celebrating with one holding an acoustic guitar and another wearing glasses, in a lively atmosphere.

    Dave Trippin' Article

    Read here
  • A woman sitting on a chair, playing an electric guitar and singing into a microphone on a stage at an outdoor event.

    Appalachian News Express Article

    See Here

Pikeville Tourism sees upswing in 2021

  • Sign welcoming visitors to Pikeville, with a message promoting Preserve America and celebrating local heritage.

    Tourism Tuesday-Mountain Grrl Edition

    Watch here

  • Pikeville, Pike County Tourism sees upswing in 2021, data shows

    “The Mountain Grrl Festival… made a debut in 2021 and because of their success, will continue in 2022”

    Read about it Here
  • A black bag with a white logo, a bulletin board with a message about COVID-19 safety, and a decorated cardboard box.

    Brianna Robinson's Interview with Kris Preston

    Watch Here
  • Logo with a purple geometric design and the letters 'KFW' below.

    Press Release for Arts Meets Activism Grant Award from Kentucky Foundation for Women

    Click here
  • A man wearing glasses and headphones speaking or singing into a professional microphone in a recording studio, with the text 'Eastern Standard' next to the image.

    Robin Irwin's Interview with WEKU's Eastern Standard

    Listen Here

Mountain Grrl Kickoff Events Underway-Leading to Festival

BODS Podcast

Featuring Vendor Services Coordinator, Dara Hart Riley

Press 2021

Mountain Grrl Experience in the News!

  • Logo with stylized text 'A Voice in the Mountains' and a mountain graphic in the background.

    Crystal Jone's Podcast Interview with Kris Preston

    Listen Here
  • Purple and white geometric logo with the letters 'KFW' underneath.

    Press Release for Artist Enrichment Grant Award from Kentucky Foundation for Women

    Click here
  • Promotional graphic for the Homegrown Happy Hour Podcast featuring a woman smiling and holding a man over her shoulder, with episode number 55, broadcasting Thursdays at 7 PM with Elijah Griffith, social media icons for Facebook, WIX, and YouTube.

    Eli Griffith's Podcast Interview with Kris Preston on the Homegrown Happy Hour

    Watch here

  • ‘In The Studio’ with Allen Bolling on Q95.5 FM! FM

  • Woman playing guitar in a rustic indoor setting as part of a music festival webpage titled 'Sizzling Summer Music Fests' by Dave Trippin.

    Dave Trippin': Sizzling Summer Music Festivals

  • A stylized graphic design promoting Lady of the Mountain Ale from Honeysuckle Farmhouse Saison. Features a woman’s face silhouette with flowing hair in purple and blue, surrounded by stars and retro-style text.

    Mountain Top News' Jeremy Justice on Broken Throne Brewery and Lady of the Mountain Ale!

    Watch here
  • Sunset view of a forested valley with mountains in the distance, overlaid by a semi-transparent graphic of a Wi-Fi signal icon with orange and green arcs.

    Jeremy Justice of Mountain Top News speaks with Kris Preston about the Mountain Grrl Experience

    Watch here

  • We made the 6 o'clock news! Interview with Buddy Forbes on WYMT TV.

    Watch here