LOUDONVILLE — Discover Mohican and the Mohican Area Chamber of Commerce invites Bigfoot believers and skeptics alike to Loudonville’s Bigfoot Festival Sept. 19 and 20.
The festival kicks off Sept. 19 at Lost Horizons Campground where there will be a foot casting activity for kids at 5 p.m. In addition, a thermal drone demonstration and community campfire after sunset are also planned.
On Sept. 20, the festival will transfer to downtown Loudonville where visitors can enjoy food and merchandise vendors, face painting and other kids activities in Central Park.
A nine-foot Bigfoot statue will be available for photo opportunities at the Four Seasons Flowers & Gifts, located at 221 West Main St.
There will also be a Bigfoot sighting board for visitors to pin their sightings on a map and a walk-like-Bigfoot contest.
But the highlight of the festival will be the speaker series at the Ohio Theatre, located at 156 North Water St.
Speaker series
- 9:30 a.m.: Angie Heimberger, owner of Four Seasons Flowers & Gifts, will talk about the event and its sponsors.
- 9:45 a.m.: MC Larry Sidwell is a Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization investigator who has gone on 40 expeditions to pursue Bigfoot sightings.
- 10 a.m.: Suzanne Ferencak and Mark Maisel are Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization investigators.
- 11:30 a.m.: Rob Rodabaugh is a Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization investigator who has attended nine Bigfoot expeditions.
- 1 p.m.: Bea Mills is a Bigfoot investigator and founder of the Hocking Hills Bigfoot Festival. She was awarded Bigfooter of the Year by Bigfoot Times in 2019.
- 2:30 p.m.: Shane Grove and Shane Leuthold host the From the Shadows Podcast, which discusses paranormal, supernatural and cryptozoology topics.
- 4 p.m.: Keynote speaker Matt Pruitt is the author of The Phenomenal Sasquatch: Seeking the Natural Origins of a Cultural Icon.
General admission tickets for the speaker series are $20 and VIP tickets are $50, which include a t-shirt, signed poster and reserved seating in the first three rows. People can purchase tickets on the Ohio Theatre’s website.
Angie Heimberger spearheaded the plan to create a Bigfoot Festival in Loudonville last year.
“My thing from the beginning was we need another fun, family oriented event in Loudonville, and who doesn’t love Bigfoot?” Heimberger said.
Heimberger said there have been Bigfoot sightings in the area, so she knew there would be a local interest in the festival.
In addition to the Bigfoot statue, which was hand-made by Heimberger’s husband, John Fulton, Four Seasons Flowers & Gifts carries Bigfoot stuffed animals, t-shirts and other merchandise.
Suzanne Ferencak, a local Bigfoot enthusiast and investigator, volunteered to organize the speaker series. She became a believer in 2013 when she spotted a Bigfoot on Township Road 211.
She contacted the Bigfoot Research Organization with her sighting, and investigator Mark Maisel shared there were lots of sightings in that area over the previous six months.
The phenomenon became known as “The Mohican Flap of 2013-2014.” Maisel and Ferencak will discuss the sightings during their presentation.
The Bigfoot Research Organization organizes and reports Bigfoot observations and leads exhibitions where people have reported Bigfoot sightings.
Ferencak said the festival will get the latest research and findings to attendees, which encourages people to speak about their findings.