Woolly Worm Festival is Seeking Worms!!!

Since 1978, the residents of this village at the foot of Beech Mountain have celebrated the coming of the snow season with the Woolly Worm Festival. The races on Saturday will determine which one worm will have the honor of predicting the severity of the coming winter; and they make that worm earn the honor by winning heat after heat of hard-fought races – up a three-foot length of string.

Gates open at 9 AM on both Saturday and Sunday. The Woolly Worm races begin around 10 AM. Each heat consists of 25 worms and races continue all day until the grand final around 4 PM. The winning worm on Saturday gets the $1,000 first prize that accompanies the prestige of having your worm used to pronounce the official winter forecast. The Sunday worm races are for prestige, fun and small prizes. Participants wishing to race their worm may register at 9 AM.

In addition to the races, enjoy live entertainment and 140 food and craft vendors with their handcrafted items, plus rides, musicians and dance teams.

The Woolly Bear caterpillar has 13 brown and black segments, said to correspond to the 13 weeks of winter. The lighter brown a segment is, the milder that week of winter will be. The darker black a segment is, the colder and snowier the corresponding week will be. No person is more likely to have a winning worm than any other person. There is no other experience in life that can produce the absurd euphoria that comes from cheering for a caterpillar to climb a string!

The Woolly Worm Festival is sponsored by the Avery County Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk and a portion of the proceeds go to support children’s charities throughout the county.

How to Race A Woolly Worm?

• Get a Woolly Worm: There are many ways to get your very own Woolly Worm to race. One is to bring one with you from home. The drawback to this method is that if you live off the mountain, your woolly worm may not be used to the colder mountain weather and may be sluggish. Another alternative is to wait until you get to the mountains to start looking for your woolly worms. The third, and most popular, option is to purchase one right at the Woolly Worm Festival. There will be many local woolly worm ‘breeders’ on the festival grounds with a large assortment of specially bred and trained worms.
• Name Your Woolly Worm: This is a very important step. The name you give your woolly worm can reflect your aspirations of his (or her) performance. You should be able to take pride if your woolly worm’s name is called as the winner of the race!
• Obtain A Registration Form: The official woolly worm race registration forms will be available right at the entrance to the Woolly Worm Festival grounds.
• Visit The Registration Table: The registration table will be located near the large, raised platform where the races will be held. At the table, you will turn in your registration form, pay the $5 registration fee, and you will be assigned a Heat Number.
• Listen For Your Heat To Be Called: The races move along quickly. When your heat is called, go directly to the race board.
• Go Up To The Race Board: This is it! Get ready to race and good luck!

Tickets & Parking 

• Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children 6-12, under 5 years old, free. All proceeds are given back to our community to enhance schools, children’s programs, and to promote local businesses and tourism in Avery County.
• There is ample parking, but the free parking is on a first come basis and other parking by organizations for a minimal fee.
• Please no pets inside festival gates, except Woolly Worms, of course. Doggie day care is available outside of the gates at the main entrance.
• There are no ATMs on festival grounds so be sure to stop at one of the bank ATM machines on your way.

For More Information: Visit www.WoollyWorm.com or call 800-972-2183.