The video above is from WAVY’s May 2025 coverage of the carnival closure.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The Mount Trashmore Summer Carnival will not return to Virginia Beach for its traditional Memorial Day Weekend to mid-June run, following the death of the event’s founder and producer earlier this year.
Patricia Cadwell, the widow of the late Joel “Jody” Cadwell, confirmed she is working to wind down operations of his National Events Management company by the end of the year. Joel Cadwell coordinated carnival rides and concessions for events across Hampton Roads and Northeast North Carolina for several decades, including the Suffolk Peanut Festival, North Carolina Potato Festival, Pungo Strawberry Festival and Soundside Fun Fair in Nags Head.
Joel Cadwell, former chairman of Suffolk Peanut Festival, dies at 68
He died in January of cancer and Patricia said she and her sons are unable to carry on all her husband did…