I’ve always said the most fun I’ve ever had at any fair or festival was the first time I attended the “Woolly Worm Festival” in Banner Elk.

Literally, you have people drinking, eating, and gambling at the speed of a fuzzy worm (see above pic) racing up a string.  Just thinking about it now, I start laughing.  Totally, preposterous fun.  However, Banner Elk’s pride and joy are just the tip of the crazy festival iceberg.

• Frozen Dead Guy Days (March)

  Come to Nederland, Colorado, for this event featuring coffin races, costumed polar plunges, icy turkey bowling, and even a frozen T-shirt contest!  Sounds like fun, but also sounds REAL cold (not my jam).  Still too cold in March in Colorado for me.

• Hillbilly Days (April)

  Grab up all your kin folk and head to Pikeville, Kentucky for this celebration of Appalachian culture.  Featured events include:  a cornhole tournament, quilt show, hillbilly music, food and local crafts.

• Duct Tape Festival (June)

  Ever wonder who makes-and where-Duct Tape?  The answer is Shurtape Technologies in Avon, Ohio (suburb of Cleveland).   Each June the locals pay homage to their hometown product that none of us can live without.

• Humungus Fungus Fest (August)

  EASILY, my favorite name for a festival, this takes place in Crystal Falls, Michigan.  People come from all over the world to pay homage to the world’s largest, oldest living organism, a 200,000-pound shoestring mushroom occupying 38 acres of land and dating back anywhere from 1,500 to 10,000 years.  Food, fun, and falderal abounds.

• Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw And Festival (September)

  What better way to honor the bovine that drive the Wisconsin dairy industry than with a party set around cow chips.  There’s a cow chip parade and or course the spectacle of watching competitors vie for the state’s cow chip toss record-live from Prairie du Sac.

• Cream Cheese Festival (September)

  Lest you think cow chips are the only things that can be flung at a festival.  Welcome to Lowville, New York and September’s Cream Cheese Festival.  In addition to the “Flinging Cream Cheese Toss,” you can paint murals with the spread, participate in an all-you-can-eat contest and even take a bite from the world’s largest cheesecake.

• Tarantula Awareness Festival (October)

  Coarsegold, California is where you’ll find this celebration of arachnid-inspired poems, music, crafts, and events.  Some of which include a hairy legs contest, a tarantula hat dance, and a tarantula derby.  And since Halloween is right around the corner on the calendar, the festival also features trick-or-treating and pumpkin decorating

• Woolly Worm Festival (October)

  And since we opened this by mentioning the Tar Heel State’s contribution to this list, if you’ve never seen a woolly worm race, here ya go.  And make plans to head up to Banner Elk in the fall.  You won’t regret it for a second!

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