Crowds of believers, curious visitors and even a few skeptics descended on the village of Whitehall on Saturday for the 10th annual Sasquatch Festival and Calling Contest, an event that has grown into a unique fall tradition in Washington County.
The festival featured a wide range of vendors, family activities, live entertainment and presentations centered on the legend of the sasquatch. The day’s signature attraction, the Sasquatch Calling Contest, drew more than 100 participants this year, marking one of the largest turnouts in the event’s history. Contestants hailed from four countries and more than 32 states in the U.S., according to the event’s Facebook page.
Participants of all ages took turns delivering their best interpretations of the elusive creature’s howl, with the winners taking home sasquatch-themed trophies to commemorate their victory.
Whitehall has long embraced its reputation as a hub for Sasquatch lore, fueled by reported sightings in the surrounding Adirondack foothills dating back to the 1970s, including a widely cited 1976 encounter involving local law enforcement agents. The village’s association with Bigfoot stories led to the establishment of an official resolution declaring the village a sasquatch sanctuary in 2004. In 2018, Whitehall made the sasquatch the village’s “official animal.”
While opinions remain divided on whether sasquatches truly roam the forests around Whitehall, local businesses welcome the influx of visitors to the festival and various sasquatch- and Bigfoot-themed events held in the village throughout the year. Festival organizers have already announced the date for next year’s Sasquatch Festival and Calling Contest: Sept. 25, 2027.
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