Hawking Hills Bigfoot Festival Celebrates All Things Squatch in Ohio

If you've ever wondered what it's like to wander through a festival dedicated entirely to Sasquatch, a recent video uploaded to YouTube by the channel **Vmann On the Road & On the Water** gives you a front-row seat to one of the newer gatherings on the circuit — the 2026 Hocking Hills Bigfoot Festival, held at the Vinton County Fairgrounds in McArthur, Ohio. The festival, which appears to be in its fifth year (with roots stretching back roughly a decade), is the brainchild of organizer Va Mills, who the videographer describes as the "founder, creator, lord, and savior" of the event. And honestly, after watching the footage, it's easy to see why someone with that kind of passion would be needed to pull something like this together. The video, captured on August 14th, 2026, walks viewers through a sprawling lineup of vendors offering everything a Sasquatch devotee could want. There's Moonville Coffee, named after the famously haunted Moonville Tunnel — a spot long associated with paranormal activity in the region. There's Cuddle Buddies, where you can pick up a plush figure (Bigfoot, a bottomless snowman, or one of several other cryptid characters) starting at $25, with an optional outfit for another $10. There are handcrafted metal Bigfoot welcome signs, pressed steel art, vinyl records, screen-printed tees, and even a vendor selling a "UFO Repair Shop" shirt that honestly sounds like something every closet researcher needs. One of the more entertaining segments features a vendor selling handcrafted cryptid back scratchers — yes, actual back scratchers shaped like Bigfoot and other legendary creatures. The demonstration alone is worth the price of admission. The festival also hosted a "Walk Like a Squatch" contest, which quickly became one of the highlights. Contestants took their best shot at channeling their inner Sasquatch, with one participant — a woman named Martha from Kentucky — delivering what the videographer called a "fantastic" performance. During the contest, the host dropped some genuinely interesting regional cryptid knowledge, pointing out that Florida has the Skunk Ape, North Carolina has the Carrot Devil, Kentucky has the Ston Giant, and northern New York has the Whistler. It's the kind of off-the-cuff folklore exchange that makes these gatherings so valuable for anyone interested in the broader world of cryptid research. The videographer also gave a shoutout to the upcoming Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, scheduled for September 19th and 20th — an event that's been running for 20 to 25 years and reportedly drew over 20,000 attendees on its first day last year. If you've never been, it's apparently a must. Now, it's not all sunshine and squatch calls. The videographer noted that a nasty storm rolled through on Friday the 14th, bringing mud, humidity, and enough trouble to get the donut truck stuck in the grass. That likely kept some vendors and attendees away, which is a shame because the turnout that did show up looked solid. Overall, the Hocking Hills Bigfoot Festival comes across as a warm, community-driven event with a genuinely welcoming atmosphere — something that's not always easy to achieve in the often-skeptical world of cryptid research. The Appalachian region has long been considered prime Sasquatch territory, with countless sightings reported across Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania over the decades. Events like this one serve as gathering points for witnesses, researchers, and curious newcomers alike, and from what this video shows, the folks running it are doing it right. If you're in the Ohio area or planning a road trip through Appalachia, this festival looks like it's well worth adding to the calendar. And if you want to see the full walkthrough — including the back scratcher demo and the legendary squatch walk contest — the video is definitely worth a watch.