Big Foot Days 52nd Annual Parade and Festival September 1, 2012

VFW Pancake Breakfast September 2, 8-11 a.m.

Where: Downtown Willow Creek, Calif..
 For more information contact Trina at bigfootdays@yahoo.com, 530-625-4208X481. willowcreekchamber.com

Also call (800) 346-3482 or visit: redwoods.info for travel information.

It's an X-files-ish affair that includes Bigfoot encounters, lawn mower races and the son of a notorious Watergate plumber when the festival featuring the hairy hominid returns home to Humboldt County. Cryptozoological hunters with the popular Animal Planet show 'Finding Bigfoot' stomped around Willow Creek recently,  looking for the legendary man-beast in the mountains. This is the location where the renowned Patterson-Gimlin film was shot and the name Bigfoot was coined. Pity they didn't wait until the annual Bigfoot Days over Labor Day weekend, when hordes of hairy hominids will no doubt encounter humanoids at the Saturday morning parade (Sept. 3) in the town, the so-called Bigfoot capital, one hour east of Eureka on, what else, the Bigfoot Scenic Byway, Hwy 299.

Schedule:

Bigfoot Parade down main street WC  at 10 a.m. followed by food, fun and festivities at Veterans Park. There are no requirements as to what can be in the parade. Have fun with it! Some examples of possible parade entries are: floats, heavy equipment, live stock, and groups on foot, bike, or anything else that you think represents the community. Parade entry fees are $35  for businesses. All non-profit organizations/clubs and personal entries are exempt from this fee.

Games such as: bobbing for apples, egg/balloon toss, sack races, and activities such as: dunk tanks and eating contests are a sure fire way to  have fun.

The  event includes food & craft booths, oyster feed, deep pit BBQ, logging contests, a petting zoo, kids bike race, lawn mower race, disc golf tourney and big ice cream social with homemade pies, cakes and cobblers at the town museum, which houses the world's largest collection of Bigfoot curios.

Speaking of X-Files-like adventures, the hominid happening will offer plenty of live music, including St. John & the Sinners, a popular North Coast blues and rock & roll band, led by Saint John Hunt, the oldest son of super-spy E. Howard Hunt, a Watergate plumber and C.I.A. covert agent who, it is said, was on the Grassy Knoll in Dallas when John Kennedy was assassinated. Hmmm. Is there a Bigfoot connection in there somewhere? 

It's time for th annual Bigfoot Days celebration, which is taking place this coming Labor Day weekend September 3rd and 4th 2011. The theme for the event this year is "River Fun in the Mountain Sun with Bigfoot's 52!". There will be live musical performances in the park.

Bigfoot Days is non-profit event--all monies raised are put into the festivities for next year. Participation is the best way to donate and have some fun at the same time, so join the parade, set up an activity, food, or retail booth. Help keep this tradition alive and make it bigger and better than ever!

When in town, see:

Willow Creek - China Flat Museum
38949 CA-299
Willow Creek, CA 95573
Phone: (530) 629-2653
Admission is free but donations are appreciated.

The museum is home to the renowned Bigfoot Collection. The Willow Creek/China Flat museum houses an extensive collection of historical artifacts, antique logging and mining equipment, along with a miner's cabin, gold mine and blacksmith shop.

From the first weekend of May to the last weekend of September  hours are: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm.

In the month of October hours are: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 12 pm to 4 pm. The Museum is closed November through April except by appointment. If the museum is scheduled to be closed, call (530) 629-2653 

Bigfoot Lore:  Rooted  in Native American story-telling and reports,  the story goes that a huge manlike creature and his family  dwelled in the Bluff Creek area along the Klamath River. The earliest known report of this man-animal was possibly recorded in Crescent City around 1886. There were numerous reports from the area between Willow Creek and Happy Camp of large human-like creatures seven to eight feet tall and weighing from 350 to 800 lbs. These creatures were reported to be man-like, with a light covering of hair on their bodies. These prehistoric-looking man-apes faded away for many years only to appear again in 1935 when huge tracks were found in snow on a nearby mountain.

In 1958, in the Bluff Creek area, an entire new epic of Bigfoot was begun. Heavy equipment was moved, loaded drums were tossed about, foot prints were everywhere, and workers were followed about through the dense underbrush by foul-smelling, haunting visages. In 1960, there were sightings by reliable people and over 50 sightings have taken place since that time. Perhaps the most talked about encounter happened in 1967 in a nearby canyon of Bluff Creek where the famous, or infamous, Patterson/Gimlin video was shot showing what appears to be an adult bigfoot crossing the creek bank.

Willow Creek settled in the early 1800's as China Flat, became a gold rush supply center for the Northern Sierra mines. A postwar (WWII) boom brought lumber mills and logging companies to the area with demand so high for local quality timber that mills ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for several decades through the 1970s.

Travel Directions

Willow Creek is located in the middle of Six Rivers National Forest and is near the Trinity Wilderness Area and Trinity National Park. From the San Francisco area: Drive north on Highway 101 past Eureka. In Arcata connect to Route 299 eastbound toward Redding. Willow Creek is near the intersection of Route 299 and Route 96. You can also fly into Arcata Airport.

Bigfoot Field Research Organization bfro.net