Sharon A. Hill<p><strong>Cryptid town festivals still going strong</strong></p><p>Every year I add more US cryptid town festivals to my list that I keep <a href="https://moderncryptozoology.wordpress.com/cryptid-town-festivals/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">here</a> on Modern Cryptozoology. I’m up to around 70! I just added the Ypsilanti, MI festival that <a href="https://concentratemedia.com/inaugural-ypsilanti-cryptid-festival-will-celebrate-creatures-of-folklore-and-rumor/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">kicks off its inaugural event on October 24</a>. As with all the others, the new Michigan event features family-friendly exhibits by local artists, vendors, food trucks, paranormal speakers, music, and a mini film festival. People are encouraged to show up in costumes.</p><p>With this latest Michigan festival, there is no particular local monster featured, but it’s just for general cryptids. These festivals rarely feature biological or zoological information and lean heavily towards promotion of other paranormal topics, which follows my <a href="https://sharonahill.com/pop-goes-the-cryptid-explained/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Pop Cryptid model </a>where the primary effort is not made towards explaining the mystery, certainly not in a zoological sense, but towards embracing the stories and folklore, including the unexplained and paranormal aspects.</p> <p>From my post on <a href="https://moderncryptozoology.wordpress.com/2022/10/10/cryptid-festivals/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Cryptid Town Festivals</a>:</p><blockquote><p><em>The community day festivals always involve speakers, media coverage, vendors, themed food and drink items, tours and explanation of the legend, vendors, and often music or film screenings. Sometimes, there is even a parade. Often, the crowd includes some cosplayers or a person dressed as the creature for photo opportunities. Typically, the events are family-friendly. Often, proceeds are used to support the community or local causes.</em></p></blockquote><p>And from the organizer of the Ypsilanti Cryptid Festival:</p><blockquote><p><em>“If you want to have a unique downtown and you don’t want to see empty buildings, you need to support the businesses there,” she says. “Even if everyone just purchases something small, that can help a small business owner a whole lot.”</em></p></blockquote><p>This trend for cryptid town festivals continues to grow because they’ve been fun and successful. I recently went to the Albatwich Festival, now moved to Wrightsville, Pennsylvania on a day that threatened rain. Still, some people made a 2-3 hour drive. Unfortunately, the facilities were not as good as previous years and it looked like several vendors failed to show. The setup for speakers was haphazard and the music playing throughout was more disruptive than pleasant. It showed that these kinds of events take a LOT of work and organization. Things sometimes don’t work out. But the enthusiasm certainly is there and people WANT to participate in these cryptid carnivals where they can bring their families and have some fun. </p><p>These festivals are an interesting study in socio-economics, folklore adoption, consumerism, and popular culture. There is a lot of meaning built into these events and they are certainly part of the growing popularity of cryptids. </p> <p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://sharonahill.com/tag/albatwitch/" target="_blank">#Albatwitch</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://sharonahill.com/tag/cryptid-town-festivals/" target="_blank">#CryptidTownFestivals</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://sharonahill.com/tag/cryptids/" target="_blank">#cryptids</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://sharonahill.com/tag/folklore/" target="_blank">#folklore</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://sharonahill.com/tag/michigan/" target="_blank">#Michigan</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://sharonahill.com/tag/monsters/" target="_blank">#Monsters</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://sharonahill.com/tag/paranormal/" target="_blank">#Paranormal</a></p><p><a href="https://sharonahill.com/?p=10450" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">sharonahill.com/?p=10450</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>