By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The all-time hide-and-seek grand champion made a surprisingly visible appearance at the 250-year celebration of America on the Fourth of July in Olive Hill. Not only was the “man” with the most famous foot ever in attendance at the festivities, but he took part in the Olive Hill parade as well. Bigfoot himself was there courtesy of Tabatha Steagall, who ran the successful Carter County Bigfoot Festival at the Depot in 2025 and plans to repeat the event in September of this year.
“We had a really great time,” Steagall said of Independence Day event.
Both she and Bigfoot enjoyed interacting with everyone in spite of the sweltering heat. She said that many of the people they met were concerned about her hirsute companion, but she wanted to assure people that Mr. Foot had a hidden backpack filled with ice water, and there was plenty of other water available.
“And they (James’ Do It Best Hardware) kept the air conditioner going the whole time,” she said.
Steagall said she and her companion had set up at the July 4 event to sell her official festival t-shirts and to talk to people about what they could expect on September 12 of this year.
“We had fun,” she said. “But it was a lot of work. We decorated the truck for the parade from 1 to 3, then the event lasted from 3 to 8 pm.”
Steagall said she was able to break up the day’s work by visiting one of the great food trucks that had set up for the event. And apparently, along with the other event goers, Bigfoot himself was a fan of mobile refreshments.
During the event Steagall had some T-shirt giveaways, in addition to selling some. She said that if you didn’t make it out to see her (and Bigfoot) to get your shirt, you can always contact her through Facebook. Youth sizes are $12 and $15 for adult sizes up to 1-X, she said. 2-X and above are available through her Facebook page for $18. The event itself will be “open and free,” she said, with no tickets or entry fee required.
Crowd favorites Turtle Man and Swamp Man will be returning this year, as well as Wild Bill from Mountain Monsters and Sons of Appalachia, and Squatch Man, she said. Brian Cherry, known for playing Coy Duke on the 82-83 season of Dukes of Hazard will be at the festival as well, along with the General Lee. Josh Blevins will also be at the festival impersonating everyone’s favorite Ernest, Ernest P. Worrell.
There will be guest speakers at the Bigfoot Festival as well. Speakers will include Michael Cook, David Hardie, Ron Lanham, Mike Miller, Joe Perdue, Charlie Raymond, Charles Romans, and Lacie Williams. In addition to speakers sharing their expertise in the field, there will also be window contests and hidden Bigfoot to search out during the event.
Steagall said there will be other things this year leading up to the main event on September 12. There will be a Bigfoot Meeting on August 15 where people are encouraged to come and share their Bigfoot sightings and hear about the sightings others have experienced. That event will be free to the community and comes complete with a cookout. There will also be a Bigfoot treasure hunt throughout August, with winners drawn at the festival in September.
Steagall said she and everyone involved with the Carter County Bigfoot Festival want everyone to have a good time.
“Come down, visit the vendors, and enjoy everything about Bigfoot,” she said. “Last year was amazing and we hope this year is going to be even better.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
