Aug 13, 2025 By Garrett Neese 3 min read

Continuing a tradition that started in 1953, the King Coal Show will bring people from the area to celebrate Southwestern Pennsylvania’s coal mining history.

This is the 70th year for the annual festival, which runs from Aug. 16-23.

“Our area was built on the backs of coal miners,” said Katlyn Fox, the King Coal Association’s publicity director. “We are celebrating the history of coal mining and what it did for our communities and the surrounding communities, as well as celebrating what it still does for us to this day.”

The eight-day festival boasts a range of rides, parades, pageants, contests and activities to keep people entertained throughout the week.

“It’s a really nice time for not just the people in Carmichaels, but for people in our surrounding areas to also come together,” Fox said.

At 7 p.m. Sunday is the annual Coal Queen Pageant, where school districts from throughout the three-county area choose an incoming senior to participate.

Starting Tuesday, the King Coal Show has a carnival, with rides, bingo and the fire department cooking up food.

Its most popular event is close to the final one on the schedule — the King Coal Show parade, which starts at 4 p.m. on the festival’s last day.

First, the cars from that day’s auto and motorcycle show go through at 3:50 p.m. Fire departments, bands and other local organizations follow, adding to the merriment.

The winner of the Coal Queen Pageant closes out the parade, riding with her court on a float made by the Carmichaels Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Carmichaels doesn’t have another (parade) that large of a size at all throughout the year, so that is the time a lot of community members come out to line the streets,” Fox said.

Earlier in the week, there is also a pet parade on Wednesday and a children’s bike parade on Thursday.

New this year, children will be able to have a meet-and-greet with Disney princesses on Thursday. The Battle of the Barrel, a competition between fire departments, returns Sunday after a successful test run last year. Continuing a new tradition launched two years ago, the King Coal Show will end on Aug. 23 with a fireworks display.

The event is primarily a way to keep the area’s coal mining heritage alive, but it’s also a fundraiser. All proceeds from the festival go to its three member organizations — the Carmichaels Area Chamber of Commerce, the Carmichaels-Cumberland Township Volunteer Fire Company and the Carmichaels Lions Club.

Carmichaels is a tight-knit community, Fox said. That, and the nostalgia the festival brings, have helped keep it alive — even after a two-year absence during the pandemic.

“It was the support and the urgency from the community, who said that they wanted it to come back and they wanted it to continue on, even though it was in a slight downslope at that time,” she said. “We’ve been able to build it up to where it was before and hopefully continue to grow it even better than it was in the future.”

For a full schedule of events, go to the King Coal Association’s Facebook page.