We’re in the middle of working on our Bigfoot solve-a-mystery game so we decided to drive to Whitehall New York, for the tenth annual Sasquatch Calling Festival. On the drive, Yacine and I imagined what we’d experience. I wanted to see people dressed up and find inspiration for adding more of the spirit of Bigfoot into our game and Yacine was debating entering the calling contest, entertaining both of us with a variety of weird call attempts that echoed through the car and somewhat disturbed our dog.
Upon parking, we spotted a glimpse of Skene Manor which had me giddy with excitement as it looks exactly as I’d picture a haunted manor, perched high on a hill with overly steep turrets and and gothic style. Walking further into town, we spotted vultures circling historic buildings – which had me in a giddy whir of excitement as it was basically Halloween month.
We could tell that the small downtown of Whitehall was ready for the festival (or Sasquatch tourism in general.) The chamber of commerce was adorned in sasquatch signs, stores had shirts and memorabilia on prime display, and other enterprising groups had set up tables with food and other bigfoot items for sale.
Not exactly knowing where we were going, we turned the corner into our first bigfoot sighting – or technically half of a bigfoot, as the older gentleman we saw was wearing a full suit from waist down. It seems he might have taken a break from what was most likely a very hot outfit. But even a half bigfoot – that was enough to have me giddy with excitement. I love people watching and this event was already living up to my hopes!
Towards the food trucks we had our next sighting – three whimsical sasquatches politely waiting in line for Philly Cheese Steaks and Sausage. And then there was the sighting by the porta potties of a mascot head-wearing fellow, followed by our requisite photo with the bigfoot sculpture in town.
The amount of booths and vendors was impressive. It was pretty neat to see real bigfoot print castings and to chat with bigfoot investigators. My favorite booth though, was not bigfoot specific, it was The Unknown Paranormal Society.
They had great stories and I loved how similar our jobs are in a sense. They told us that most of their work was historical research (same here!) So while we deal with the scariness of playtesting games, they go out and hunt down the spirits. We especially loved their rants and raves on the quality of the archives of various towns and historical societies.
While there were a lot of bigfoot items from the vendors, we were a little disappointed that there wasn’t as much variety as we had expected. Many of the items were made from AI art – and while we aren’t against AI, we do prefer original art – or at the very least art that doesn’t look like AI. We did buy a few items from artists – a fun shirt, a cat sticker and a bigfoot flower holder. There were adorable bigfoot dolls that we passed on since we knew it would end up destroyed by our pup.
Talks by bigfoot investigators were going on all day in the beautiful outdoor amphitheater and we took a few hours to sit in on them. I was surprised by how down to earth they all were. Another fascinating takeaway is that most of the investigators in the round table discussion had never seen bigfoot. I think it’s the thrill of the hunt and the big discovery that makes looking for bigfoot so attractive.
And finally – the reason why we all were there – the Bigfoot Calling Contest! The entire amphitheater was packed and the line of eager contestants snaked all the way from the edge of the stage to the top of the back stairs (and that was just for the kid group!). An adorable family with a baby bigfoot and matching shirts squeezed into seats next to us and then it began! The pace was peppy and the calls diverse, with only a few tearful flights from the microphone when stage fright kicked in. Some silly, some shrill and others convincing (having never heard bigfoot, it appealed to what my imagination liked) One in particular caught the attention of our dog – so maybe that counted for something? There were over sixty kids! I have no idea how the judges could narrow it down to the top three or even what a rubric for a bigfoot call might be but they got there…the final three. They came up again and reperformed their calls and the winner was chosen.
The adults were up next. I had been impressed with the variety of calls from the kids but the adults took it up a few more levels. It’s a good thing Yacine didn’t enter because he was woefully unprepared for the range of sounds the adults let loose on the stage. Some came in costume, some with props, some with choreography. It was wonderful. More than the calls though, my favorite part was watching the faces of the participants after they had finished. There was such joy and pride (and sometimes surprise!)
I can’t say I agree with the judges choice of the top three – or even the winner – but it was all in good fun. Knowing how subjective it was makes it more fun in a way – and possibly more enticing to enter next year?
So that’s our experience! My big takeaway for the new game is how much fun it is to imagine that something like Bigfoot might be out there. To hear stories and to join in on the hunt because maybe…just maybe…you might be the one to find the proof that Bigfoot is real.
