LOUDONVILLE — Enter Bigfoot’s stomping grounds this weekend for a chance to see the legendary creature.
Bigfoot enthusiasts and skeptics alike are invited Saturday to the second annual Mohican Bigfoot Festival in downtown Loudonville.
The one-day festival will bring speakers and researchers to the Ohio Theatre before moving into the woods Saturday evening for foot casting, a bonfire and an attempt to hear Bigfoot vocalizations.
Last year’s first festival drew a larger crowd than organizers like Valerie Spreng expected.
“We were very pleased with the turnout,” said Spreng, executive director of the Loudonville Mohican Chamber of Commerce. “It was very popular and we’ve had people asking all year, you know, ‘Are you doing this again?'”
The answer is yes — and organizers have added new activities for this year.
What to expect downtown
The downtown portion begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with vendors and food trucks in Central Park located on West Main Street.
Raby Hardware & Outdoors is hosting a paint-on-pottery activity and Four Seasons Flowers & Gifts has a photo opportunity with a 9-foot Bigfoot.
Local businesses will also offer Bigfoot merchandise and themed specials throughout the day.
From 2 to 4 p.m., DJ Brian Wolf of WolfRockRadio.com will host two new contests on Main Street. Participants can compete in a “Walk Like a Sasquatch” contest or test their best Bigfoot howl.
Volunteer event content manager and host Suzanne Ferencak said the contests are new to the festival this year.
“It’s so hilarious to see these little kids doing this,” Ferencak said. “And then if you get the adults involved in it, that’s even funnier.”
Speakers and a movie at The Ohio Theatre
The Ohio Theatre, located at 156 N. Water St., will host the festival’s ticketed programming from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The schedule includes:
- 10 a.m. — Mark Matzke of Small Town Monsters discusses his “Buckeye Bigfoot” series.
- 11:30 a.m. — Ohio Bigfoot investigator Don Keating discusses the history of Bigfoot sightings in Ohio.
- 1 p.m. — “From the Shadows” podcast hosts Shane Grove and Judge Shane Leuthold host an open discussion with local witness stories. Attendees can share their own experiences.
- 2:30 p.m. — Author and cryptid researcher Lyle Blackburn discusses the famous Bigfoot sightings in Fouke, Arkansas, which inspired “The Legend of Boggy Creek.”
- 3 p.m. — “The Legend of Boggy Creek” plays on the big screen, followed by a question-and-answer session with Blackburn.
The 1972 film shares another look at one of the stories that helped introduce many people to Bigfoot.
Into the woods
The festival moves to The Lost Horizons Family Campground Saturday evening from 6 to 11 p.m. The campground sits along the Mohican River near the Spellacy covered bridge.
A free foot-casting class will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Participants can make a cast of a footprint to take home while learning about how investigators collect evidence.
Bigfoot bonfire stories will begin at dusk, with Ohio investigators available to answer questions and take reports.
The evening will also have a “call blasting” demonstration using recorded Bigfoot vocalizations. Organizers will play the sounds toward the woods and listen for a possible response.
At the same time, Cory Frazier from ThermalTrail Drone Recovery will demonstrate a thermal drone. The drone can detect heat signatures in the woods.
Ferencak said the combination of the vocalizations and thermal drone could create an unusual opportunity if investigators hear a response.
“There’s a chance that we could get a vocalization return,” Ferencak said. “Then we send up Cory Frazier’s drone in the direction where it came from.”
She acknowledged that such a response is far from guaranteed, but said the attempt is part of the fun.
Pricing and parking for the festival
The downtown festival and evening events at Lost Horizons are free.
Admission is required for the Ohio Theatre events. Advance general admission is $20. Tickets purchased at the event are $25. A $50 VIP ticket includes reserved seating in the first six rows, a festival T-shirt and a 2026 poster signed by festival speakers.
The festival itself will not close Main Street. However, the annual Flxible & Converted Bus Rally is also taking place in Loudonville this weekend, with historic buses on Main Street during the morning. Street parking will open after noon once the buses leave.
“Come to Mohican,” Ferencak said. “We’ve got it all, including Sasquatches.”
More happening in the Mohican area
- Mohican Bluegrass Festival — The 35th annual festival runs Thursday to Saturday at Mohican Wilderness, 22462 Wally Road.
- Great Mohican Pow-Wow — The annual event runs Friday through Sunday at the Mohican Reservation Campground, 23270 Wally Road.
- Flxible & Converted Bus Rally — The annual rally runs through Sunday at Mohican Adventures Campground. Historic Flxible buses will be on display along Main Street Saturday morning.
