7 minute read
Woolly Worm Festival
PHOTO BY LILY KINCAID Emma Denton from Gastonia was the owner of this year’s winning worm, “Porta Potty.” Pictured from left to right, back to front is festival mascot Merryweather, Shawn Stricklen, Will Stephenson, Tommy Burleson, Adam Binder, Mary Jo Brubaker, Denton, Merryweather, Emma Price, Evy Hunt and Hannah Cummings.
Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival
BY JAMIE SHELL
Thousands flocked to Banner Elk on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15 and 16, to partake in some wholesome family fun at the 45th annual Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival.
The weekend’s warm weather paired with the bold oranges, yellows and reds of the peaking fall leaves made for the ideal setting for the festival – something that was demonstrated by the estimated 12,000 guests that attended the festival on Saturday, Oct. 15, alone. Along with all the festivities, tourists got to experience the full autumnal atmosphere of the High Country.
While the exact numbers haven’t yet been finalized, this year’s Woolly Worm Festival seemed to draw in especially large crowds, said Avery County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Anne Winkelman.
“I think it was a very successful weekend,” she said. “We had the most people that we’ve had since I can remember.”
Like any large event, the Woolly Worm Festival relies heavily on support from the community and help from volunteers, from donations to setting up and tearing down, to running the event itself.
“People are just so generous in this community to help us put this together,” Mary Jo Brubaker, chair of the Woolly Worm Festival, said. “It’s a wonderful community.”
The Woolly Worm Festival, as well as the folklore behind the woolly worm itself, is enough to bring people from around the world to Banner Elk each third weekend in October. This year, guests came from as far as California and even England, Brubaker said.
“I thought it went fabulous,” she said. “We had way more people than we had anticipated, and I think everybody was just happy to leave home and get to the
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High Country for a beautiful weekend.”
The committee adjusted the layout of the festival somewhat to accommodate six additional vendors than it had in the past, meaning that more than 160 were able to attend in total. Vendors from the High Country and beyond came to sell jewelry, handcrafted wood pieces, soaps, paintings, prints, leather crafts, glass art and more. One craft vendor ran out of items on Saturday, and two more ran out of items on Sunday, Winkelman said.
This year’s festival had more food vendors than previous years, Winkelman noted. From traditional fair food, such as corn dogs, funnel cakes and cotton candy, to newer options such as Famous Brick Oven Pizza and Diggy Doughnut, there was a little something for every palate at this year’s festival. Much like the craft vendors, however, two of the food vendors did so well that they ran out of food before the festival was over.
Banner Elk Garden Club created a stage for the entertainment, and decorated the stage with donations from businesses and community members, Brubaker said. Dave Calvert took care of scheduling the musical acts between both days and making sure the entertainment, which included John and Carrie Greene as ‘Elvis and Dolly,’ went smoothly.
As usual, the highlight of the weekend was Saturday’s final race. While there is always a set of races on Sunday, Saturday’s winning woolly worm is the one that predicts the weather for the upcoming winter. Additionally, the owner of the winning worm gets a $1,000 cash prize.
Tommy Burleson, Avery County’s woolly worm whisperer, performs the reading of the worm each year after the race. According to folklore, each segment of the caterpillar’s body represents one of the 13 weeks of winter. If the band is black, it means that there will be below average temperatures and snow. If the band is dark brown, it means there will be below average temperatures. A light brown band means above average temperatures, and fleck, which means the band is a mixture of black and brown, denotes that there will be below average temperatures with frost or light snow.
This year’s final race was between worms “Ding Dong Daddy,” “Karl,” “Porta Potty,” “No Snow,” “Twinkle Butt,” “Cheeze-It” and “Willie.” After winning in their own individual heats, each of the worms competed and won in their respective semifinal races to make it all the way to the finals. Ding Dong Daddy was off to a promising start at Saturday’s final race, but by the last few seconds, it was a toss-up as to which worm would finish above all the rest. The worms were neck-and-neck until Porta Potty got a boost of energy and crossed the line, winning the race.
It wasn’t over yet, however. Porta Potty had to go through one final inspection to ensure that he was in fact an isabella tiger moth caterpillar, as any other worm or caterpillar would be disqualified. After passing the inspection from the “Woolly Worm Doctor” Gary Smith, Porta Potty was officially deemed the winner of the 2022 Woolly Worm Race.
Emma Denton, owner and trainer of Porta Potty, came all the way from Gastonia to the festival. Several of Denton’s friends stood and cheered in the audience after Porta Potty won, expressing a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
Denton was awarded the $1,000 cash prize and, after posing for a few photos, Porta Potty was prepared to give the weather prediction. Adam Binder held up the champion worm while Shawn Stricklen held the microphone for Burleson as he examined the worm.
Burleson’s reading of Porta Potty was as follows: • Weeks 1-4: Black, below average temperatures and snow • Weeks 5-9: Brown, average temperatures • Weeks 10-11: Light Brown, above average temperatures • Week 12: Fleck, below average temperatures and frost or light snow • Week 13: Black, below average temperatures and snow
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