Fun Fest 2026 will be held April 25 at the Resiliency Center in Parkersburg. Shown are participants in the 2025 event, also held at the Resiliency Center. (Photo provided)

PARKERSBURG – Fun Fest 2026, sponsored by the Amputee Center, returns on April 25 and features a 5K Fun Run in the morning, a concert in the evening and an “American Ninja Warrior” in between.

This year’s event will feature amputee Gary Weiland, a participant on “American Ninja Warrior” and athlete, said Catherine Lang-Bigley, executive director of the Amputee Center and an organizer of the annual Fun Fest. Weiland’s appearance will bring a national prominence to the event, according to Bigley.

“There’s going to be a lot of people who are going to recognize him,” she said.

Fun Fest has become the largest fundraiser for the nonprofit Amputee Center, Bigley said. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted and raffles will be held for prizes throughout the event. Proceeds are used for adaptive equipment and fitness programs, peer support and life-changing resources, free and low-cost programming and community outreach and support services.

Fun Fest has been held since 2023 and coincides with Amputee Awareness Month celebrated in April.

Division Street will perform from 5-8 p.m. April 25 at Fun Fest 2026 sponsored by the Amputee Center in Parkersburg. From left, Derrick Lemley, B.J. Hess, Blake Johnson, Travis Hunt and Alex Schreckengost. Fun Fest will be held at the Resiliency Center on Second Street. (Photo provided)

The event will be held at the Wood County Resiliency Center in the 300 block of Second Street behind the Parkersburg Municipal Building, an ideal venue for its location and accommodations, she said.

For example, those in wheelchairs had an easier time because it is accessible, Bigley said. Fun Fest also was held in 2025 at the Resiliency Center.

“It was so wonderful,” she said.

The 5K race and the concert are new to Fun Fest and open to everyone, Bigley said.

“Everybody in the community can have fun and participate in the fundraiser,” she said.

Performing at the evening concert is Division Street, a band specializing in music from the 1990s to the 2000s and cover songs from bands such as Green Day, Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Creed. Members of the band have been playing together for 10 years and are B.J. Hess on guitar, lead singer Blake Johnson, Alex Schreckengost on lead guitar, Derrick Lemley on bass guitar and drummer Travis Hunt.

The show, sponsored by the Deitzler Foundation, is from 5-8 p.m. at the Resiliency Center, where admission is a $10 donation at the door.

The 5K race will begin at 9 a.m. at the Resiliency Center and participants will run alongside Weiland. Participants can register at the Amputee Center website, https://www.theamputeecenter.com/amputee-fun-fest.

Registration is $30 prior to the race and $35 on the day of. Runners will get a T-shirt and the first 200 registrants also will get a free lunch.

Weiland will speak at 1 p.m. He is a firefighter, a writer of children’s books and the Fan Man comic book series and has a clothing line, Overcome and Adapt. He lost his leg, then became a contestant on the physically grueling “American Ninja Warrior.”

Miller Prosthetics & Orthotics is sponsoring Weiland.

Other speakers will discuss limb loss and their experiences.

Events include the Are You Stronger Than an Amputee Challenge, Adaptive Sports and Fitness Demonstrations and Innovation in Prosthetics.

Vendor spaces also are available for $100 and donations for raffles are needed, such as gift baskets, services and products. For more information, go to the Amputee Center website or call 304-699-4909.