Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger Booed Off Stage - 90th Annual Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax

On August 8, 2026, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger learned a hard lesson about Southwest Virginia when she took the stage at the 90th Annual Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax: showing up in Appalachia is not the same thing as understanding Appalachia. Spanberger arrived at Felts Park to deliver remarks before a crowd gathered for one of Southwest Virginia’s oldest and most deeply rooted cultural traditions. Instead of the polite reception politicians often expect at public appearances, she was greeted with loud boos, jeers, and shouts from the audience, including a particularly direct message: “Go back to Richmond!” And that reaction shouldn’t be surprising. The Old Fiddlers' Convention has been a Galax institution since 1935, built around the music, traditions and people of a region with a strong identity of its own. For a politician whose politics are profoundly at odds with many of the people in this part of the Commonwealth, walking onto that storied stage demonstrated just how wildly out of touch Richmond can be with the communities beyond Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth’s population centers. Spanberger’s appearance felt less like genuine engagement with Southwest Virginia and more like political theater: arrive at a beloved Appalachian tradition, take the stage, say a few words and collect the photographs that come with it. The audience wasn’t interested in playing along. Spanberger ultimately left the stage amid the hostile reception, creating a moment that said considerably more about the political divide between Richmond and Galax. Regardless of political ideology, as Americans, it's not only our right, but our duty to publicly and loudly tell elected officials exactly what we think of them.