By JULIANNE HOMOKAY
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
Sasquatch. Aliens. UFOs. The Loch Ness Monster and Champy. Yeti. Bigfoot. Many people love obsessing about mythical creatures and, in all these cases, these creatures have spawned festivals, become part of local folklore and drawn tourism into their home areas.
Steve W. and Misty W., whose Bigfoot name is Sassy Furzilla, at the afterparty.
The mountain has now become host to one of these events: the Green Valley Lake Bigfoot Festival. Alexandra Lim, a Green Valley Lake resident and member of the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, was inspired to create the festival by a friend of hers who was a Bigfoot enthusiast.
“We introduced Yeti and Bigfoot during the [Green Valley Lake] Fourth of July parade and [Running Springs] Mountain Top Days and got a great response!” So she thought a fully realized Bigfoot Festival could be “a great opportunity for Green Valley Lake.”
Whether it will or not remains to be seen. After some last-minute issues arose regarding permits with San Bernardino County, instead of canceling the event the organizers decided to mount a smaller version at the Running Springs Farmers Market on Oct. 11. “All thanks to Kevin Somes,” president of the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, said Lim. Judging by the 100+ people who gathered to watch the Calling and Costume Contests, the future of the festival looks bright.
A few booths offering Bigfoot merchandise and memorabilia were mixed in with the market’s usual vendors. But the contests, emceed by Sara Green of Wears The Mountain, were the highlight of the festival.
Several enthusiasts lined up, adults and kids alike, to offer their unique calls to Bigfoot and show off their creative costumes. A Calling Contest participant named Dave even wrote an original song to commemorate the event as he worked his call into the song. The participant who perhaps embodied the spirit of the festival most joyously, though, was Colin, the winner of the Calling Contest, dressed in his tinfoil hat.
The afterparty at Black Dog Social Club in Green Valley Lake was already in full swing when festivalgoers began to arrive. It was standing-room-only inside the club for Preachin’ Jay and the Young Fashioned, a blues band that was one of four bands booked for the day. On the porch and in front, the seats and picnic tables were full, with patrons enjoying the music and sumptuous Texas-style barbecue provided by @iheartcatering.
Preachin’ Jay and the Young Fashioned at the afterparty.
What explains all this local enthusiasm over Bigfoot? As cited by McKenna Mobley in the Victorville Daily Press, “the first Sasquatch sighting in San Bernardino County dates back 75 years” to an incident in Lytle Creek. (Sasquatch is a term that is used interchangeably with Bigfoot.) According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (yes, there is a Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization), sightings have been reported in San Bernardino County ever since.
Said Steve W., a Calling and Costume Contest finalist from Big Bear, “When I was a kid, we’d camp out in the desert near Yucca Valley. We saw some weird stuff.” That’s what started his interest in “Bigfoot, aliens and ghosts.”
According to Lim, “We aim to be in Green Valley Lake next year.” If this year’s response is an accurate metric, the festival could be a great opportunity for Green Valley Lake indeed.
For more information about the festival, visit bigfootfestivalgreenvalleylake.com.
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