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OCTOBER 2026

l a u n n A 49th

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6 2 0 2 , 8 1 & 7 1 r e ctob

• Vendor Map and Listings • Training Your Champion Worm • Tickets and Parking • Festival Gives Back to Community • Racing Rules and Regulations • What’s in a Worm? Saturday 9-5 • Sunday 9-4

WoollyWorm.com A Special Publication To

The Mountain Times The High Country’s Newspaper

The Official Woolly Worm Festival Guide

Downtown Banner Elk

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OCTOBER 2026

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OCTOBER 2026

What’s new at this year’s

Woolly Worm FESTIVAL?

PARKING AND TRANSPORTATION

BY GEORGIA DIXON

This year, festival organizers Avery County Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk have tweaked and upgraded a few key offerings. Education specialists will visit elementary schools where all students will receive a branded habitat kit to learn proper woolly worm care. Postfestival release events at schools will be held to release the worms before Halloween — ensuring proper care for the caterpillars.

A new addition to the parking lot will debut this year. Lees-McRae will provide free shuttle buses from their campus parking, with students volunteering to help park fairgoers’ vehicles.

ADMISSION PRICES

Ticket prices remain unchanged: • Adults: $10 • Children: $5 • Children 5 and under: Free • Woolly worm race registration: $10 Affordable pricing for families

Apples

OVER 25 VARIETIES OF APPLES

straight from the orchard! Bushels - $30 - $33 $1.49 - per pound

Honey Crisp - $1.99 per pound

1/2 peck - $8.00

Hump Mountain Apple House 46 Buck Mountain Rd. • Elk Park, NC Mon - Sat: 10am - 6pm Sun: 10am - 5pm

Kids at the Woolly Worm Festival in 1993.

and visitors is maintained through partnerships and grants.

EXPANDED ACTIVITIES AND VENDORS

A new kids zone featuring expanded activities — including gem mining, bubbles, a balloon artist and practice race stages — will be offered. Childfriendly vendors will also be in attendance. The festival remains committed to traditional favorite vendors, some of whom have attended for years, while

AJT PHOTO ARCHIVES

introducing new vendors to the event. Vendors are a mix of local and outof-state businesses, with 167 vendors selling crafts and food.

MEMORY COLLECTION

A history tent in the food court will collect vendor and attendee memories.

OCTOBER 2026

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2026 WOOLLY WORM FESTIVAL by the numbers

BY GEORGIA DIXON

Tens of thousands of people — High Country residents and visitors from across the country and beyond — will flock to Banner Elk, North Carolina, this year to experience the beloved Woolly Worm Festival. Attendees will either vie to have their worm win or cheer on other contestants as they watch their worms squirm up the strings. The festival lasts two days and features food, music, local artisans and friendly competition. Here’s a breakdown by the numbers.

— This year marks the 49th annual Woolly Worm Festival

— nearly 50 years of a beloved local tradition.

100

— More than 100 arts and crafts vendors, local food

trucks, live mountain music and familyfriendly children’s activities will be stationed at the event.

500

— Sunday’s winner will receive a $500 cash prize

and bragging rights.

1,000

1978

— No pets except woolly worms (and service animals) and free admission for children 5 and under. — A single worm will be crowned the winner and official predictor of the winter forecast for the year.

— Pocket $1,000 if your worm races up its string

the quickest on Saturday. — The year the Woolly Worm Festival started

to help determine which worm would

predict the winter weather in the High — The number of days the festival will take place at Historic Banner Elk Country. Elementary School.

— The festival will take place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (think Dolly Parton) on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

10 13

20,000

— Tens of thousands of

people are expected to visit. Plan in advance for parking and dining. Free parking is available on a first-come,

— Admission is $10 for adults and first-served basis. Additional parking $5 for children. will be offered for a fee by nonprofit

— A woolly worm is identified by its 13 distinctive black and rustcolored bands, distinguishing it from other worms.

organizations.

local community — schools, children’s

— Each woolly worm heat consists of 25 worms — enough for your worm to feel like it’s competing in a full field.

ALL

— All proceeds from the festival will benefit the

programs, businesses and tourism in Avery County. Support local restaurants and businesses when you visit!

The 1993 Woolly Worm winner.

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Woolly Worm Contestants cheer on their worms.

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OCTOBER 2026

Wules and Wegulations for wacing your worm

— or anyone else’s worm, string or race board either. “We’re real particular BANNER ELK — Roy Krege, the official with that,” Krege said in his interview Woolly Worm Guy for nearly 40 years, with Hansen. The good news is that once assured NPR host Liane Hansen handlers may wear their hearts on their that each larval champion at his festival sleeves in other ways that violate social was required to undergo a vet exam “to etiquette. They may clap, stomp, blow, be sure it’s steroid, stimulant free.” whistle, shout and even holler, as long Sticklers for rules suspect this may as they’re commonsensical about it have been a case of a loose race string and refrain from expletives. Collapsing turned Appalachian yarn. The wules and to one’s knees in a meltdown of epic wegulations below, though? The weal proportions while above the age of 10 McCoy. is also gently discouraged. Historically, CHOP CHOP: THE EARLY WORM triumphant worms have passed the finish line within about a minute. GETS THE BIRD “Some worms will take a week,” Krege No need to hit the ground running confessed. Races can be unnervingly at dawn, but to ensure your worm close. “They’re hair to hair, neck and enters the race, do power-walk to the neck,” he said. The declared winner race stage immediately upon arrival at the Historic Banner Elk School. of one such close-call nearly incited a Races will begin around 10 a.m., with riot: a chorus of boos ensued. This may winners advancing until the final at be why Krege once joked that, while approximately 4 p.m. Heats fill faster he was the proud proprietor of a worm than the swiftest undulating grandstable, those worms were “strictly for champions of yore, with prize money show.” “I don’t race,” he said. for each heat winner. Keep your WHAT’S AT STAKE: THE COLD antennas up for Talia Freeman, normally HARD (CASH) REALITY the director of marketing at Beech Saturday’s champion will win a Mountain Resort but appearing at the whopping $1,000 in legal U.S. tender festival as registration commander. Race and the inimitable honor of forecasting registration is $10. the High Country’s winter weather this Each heat races a whopping 25 year. Sunday’s champion may bask in worms. Given the stage’s size, tread the same title, although the Sabbath gingerly in case a worm has gotten lost day behooves its pious, modest worm in the hullabaloo. to accept half of Saturday’s sum – still CRAWLING THE DISTANCE significant at $500 – and forswear Every worm will face a formidable forecasting rights. vertical course consisting of 3 feet of Sunday’s good works include taut nylon string. Festival founder Jim doubling as Avery Advantage Day. Morton chose this setup in 1978 after County students who won races learning woolly worms will dawdle during school visits will get the chance or wander willy-nilly on level ground to compete in the spotlight for their but scramble skyward by instinct — if schools. Organizers also hope to stage inspired, of course. a faculty and staff race, plus a sponsor race for local businesses as well. The HANDS OFF THE WORM Once the Master of Ceremonies kicks sponsor race “gets very competitive,” off the race, absolutely no handler may warned Victoria Bowman, festival chair touch their worm, string or race board and executive director of the Avery BY SHWETA MISHRA

Chamber of Commerce.

BRING SOME FLAIR TO YOUR CHRISTENING OF CHAMPIONS

Every worm, including a so-called loser worm, is a champion of sorts deserving a dignified appellation. Past entrants have gone by Crawly Parton, Obi-Worm Kenobi, Wormzilla, Sir Worm a Lot, Wormius Maximus, Free Woolly, Taylor Swift, Darth Wiggler, Patsy Climb, Wormld Peace and Dale Wormhardt. The rule here is that there is no rule at all! Except, come to think of it, basic decency and wiggling all the way around controversy to opt for creativity instead. Recent winners have included Han Solo in 2016 and Billy, the 2025 champion raced by Maribel Murphy of Indiana. We don’t know yet if any worm, much less worm champion, has been named Bob.

HANDLE AS IF YOUR CHAMPION WERE A PRICELESS PORCELAIN ANTIQUE FROM THE 15TH CENTURY

Shelter your racer in a well-perforated container on a cool porch or in an unheated garage, serving it platters of fresh, pesticide-free goldenrod (an autumn-blooming native), dandelion, plantain or clover. Refrain from providing a water dish. Worms drown easily. Never leave a worm in your vehicle on a sunny day as the only heat a woolly worm can stomach is its race heat. The vehicle’s greenhouse effect will indubitably bake your car-bound caterpillar to a tragic crisp. On race day, be sure to shade your worm’s habitat until your heat is called. And if your worm curls into a ball, take a deep breath, remind yourself of your worm’s self-sovereign personal boundaries and wait because it’s protecting its belly. Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation educators will run a medical

PHOTO BY TODD BUSH

Once the race starts, sidle as close to your worm as you like – short of direct contact. As long as the stopwatch ticks, touching worm, string or race board is strictly forbidden. A single brush with a bristle of fate will ensure that your worm’s place in respectable society, not to mention the celebrity fast lane, is but a cruel flash in the pan.

station right beside the race stage this year where one may find bug carriers, care tips and the Worm Doctor to educate trainers on the merits of harm reduction – done with theatrical flair – when handling wildlife. So bring your bristly racer by for a checkup, and also bring it back after the races so it can return home to the woods.

AFTER THE FINAL HEAT

Remember to never toss a worm in the trash or ghost it on a pavement. Woolly worms must return to leafy forest floors to overwinter, so if you’re unable to drop them off yourselves, bring them to the medical care station. Organizers have planned release events at Avery County elementary schools before Halloween.

NO-NONSENSE FUNDAMENTALS: SAFETY FIRST

All the universal safety tips are in order because the safer the festival, the more relaxed the worms will be for their races. A final rule: Woolly worms are the only animals admitted besides service animals, human beings and certain vetted cryptids with special family ties such as Mothman.

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OCTOBER 2026

Enjoy the show but

be careful with Woolly Worms

A member of the Tiger Moth Family of insects, the caterpillar form of the It’s the time of year in the High woolly worm is much more familiar and Country when the march of the Woolly seen more than the adult. A relatively Worms begins. This familiar and small yet handsome orange with black fascinating insect, sometimes referred dots, the adult moth is found in our area to as the Woolly Bear, and known to primarily in the spring, and unless you science as Pyrrharctia isabella, the really look hard for it at night it’s not Isabella Tiger Moth, will soon be seen easily found. After hatching from eggs wandering across many roadways. laid by the female moth, caterpillars One of the things that makes the eat a variety of plants and grow into fuzzy, multicolor Woolly Worm caterpillar the familiar Woolly Worm caterpillar so interesting is that dating back to with brown and black “fuzzy” bands. Colonial times it has been proposed When reaching their largest size, the that the length of the brown and black caterpillars are seen moving across bands on the caterpillar can predict our roadways beginning in September the severity of winter. Though experts and lasting into the fall. This type of disagree on this, it is a fascinating part behavior, called “wandering” by insect of mountain folklore and results in a biologists, is not uncommon for many lot of attention to the bands! Also (and insects and is necessary for their excitingly, especially for children!), since survival. Its purpose is for a caterpillar the caterpillar likes to be on the move, to locate a suitable place to hibernate this makes them a great choice for over the winter before resuming an insect races. activity like eating in the spring before The Woolly Worm is very widely forming the pupa from which the distributed throughout the US and adult will emerge. A secluded place Canada, and festivals held to celebrate of the caterpillar’s choosing under a its appearance in the fall may be found structure or piles of leaves affords them in many towns. In our area, of course, protection. Interestingly, to survive a the Woolly Worm Festival every October potentially cold winter the caterpillar in Banner Elk is looked forward to by actually makes its own anti-freeze. children and adults alike. Kids from Using what we know about their across our region bring their favorite biology, here are a few things to keep in caterpillar(s) to race and see which is mind if you collect caterpillars for races the fastest (and thus predict the winter), at the local festival (or perhaps just to while local artists and food vendors observe them). Carefully considering provide a very festive atmosphere. these will go a long way to making This festival is one of the highlights sure the woolly worm remains a natural of our fall season, so making sure it wonder of the High Country. continues is important. One aspect of First, avoid collecting too many Woolly this is ensuring that the main insect Worms. Even though observing our attraction continues to thrive in nature roadways it appears there are lots of so that it can be the star of the show caterpillars in our area, it’s hard to know for years to come. This article provides the actual number. There is currently information about the biology of the great concern about insect numbers Woolly Worm to aid in understanding a declining for reasons that are poorly few things to keep in mind to make sure understood, and no one wants this to one of our most familiar High Country happen to one of the favorite insects in insects continues to thrive. the High Country. If attending the Woolly BY DR. RAY WILLIAMS

A Woolly Worm is found crawling through the autumn leaves.

Worm Festival with your race favorite, or just spending some time watching these fascinating insects at your home, limiting your collection to one caterpillar or a very small number will help maintain a healthy local population of woolly worms. Second, you really want to keep any woolly worm caterpillars out of their natural environment for as little time as possible. It’s hard to know exactly what conditions they need to survive, so even if you place a caterpillar in a nice box with leaves to provide them shelter, this may not be what the caterpillar really needs. Keep in mind that the wandering caterpillars are no longer interested in eating and trying to feed them does not affect their survival. The festival races aside, woolly worms do not make good pets and you should not try to keep one over the winter (even if you put your box outside) to watch them develop into an adult moth next spring. Natural conditions for them to survive are very hard to

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copy and it’s very possible that your caterpillar will not survive over winter in a setting you create. Finally, keep track of where you collected your caterpillar(s) and return it to this same place (though not to the road surface). Even though the woolly worm caterpillars wander seemingly far and wide, the distance they cover does not have to be that great. Compared to us, insects are small, so what seems a short distance to you can be substantial for them. The place you find your woolly worm is what it considers home, and its survival will be increased by staying in that area. It’s hard not to be fascinated by woolly worms, and whether you believe they can forecast the winter, or be the champion at the Woolly Worm Festival, doing what is needed to make sure we can look forward to them each fall seems something everyone wants. A few simple considerations will help assure this so please be mindful of them as you enjoy our fuzzy friends.

OCTOBER 2026

Faces behind the Festival

BY JAMIE SHELL

Each October, the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival opens its gates as thousands of patrons flock to the hamlet’s downtown to celebrate the wriggling star, visit vendors and perhaps win a little cold hard cash along the way. The festival involves a year-long planning process by the Avery County Chamber of Commerce and its partners, continually assessing the event, adding features and working to make the event the most enjoyable experience possible for everyone. “It takes a village,” Avery Chamber Director Victoria Bowman said of the efforts necessary to present the Woolly Worm Festival each year. Among those who work within the confines of the Chamber to make the weekend happen in addition to Bowman are Claudia Dowsett, Allison Morton, Britt

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 9

registration and even stepping in to help manage volunteers for us this year was significant, because she saw just how much we have on our plate and has just been so kind. These groups give without Mason, Lauren Xayavong, Becca Ryan, any type of expectation on the back Sarah Rudd, Jim Fitzpatrick, Hayden end.” Breckenridge, Kristine Stuckey and Bowman also lauded the work of Rebecca Hall. At-large individuals who nearby Lees-McRae College in the ability serve with the Woolly Worm Committee to host a successful weekend. include Melissa Halloran, Frances “We would not be able to uplift and Magruder, Talia Freeman, Hallie Sullivan, facilitate the type of additional parking Christian Gardner, Dalton Kilby, Meagan infrastructure if Lees-McRae College Goheen and Kevin Hodges, while Bill were not partnering with us,” Bowman Bailey, Alice Courtland, Ann Wolf, Sarah added. “They do that at no charge Koch and Jud Gowin with Banner Elk and they carry the cost of the labor of Kiwanis work with the Chamber in the paying a driver and the gas and running presentation of the annual festival. those buses on a weekend when they Numerous sponsors and donors wouldn’t necessarily be running. Dr. King continue to help bolster the festival and Blaine Hansen really believe in the annually through financial and manpower power of the festival for the community, support. and all the athletic teams lean in working “Organizations like Grandfather those parking lots, offering to volunteer Mountain and Beech Mountain Resort to wear the mascot uniforms, and that’s are such valuable partners that help all volunteer-based. That journey with the us to stay consistent with our pricing,” college has just solidified and I just see Bowman said. “The amount of manhours that growing and getting better, trying to that Talia Freeman gives us to run race be part of the broader community.”

PHOTO COURTESY AVERY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The annual festival could not exist without the work of volunteers who donate their time in everything from planning to participating in varying facets of the weekend.

To learn more about the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival, visit to www. woollyworm.com.

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OCTOBER 2026

A history of woolly worm magic,

in segments

never lost because he never strayed far from their wild origins. He was real It was John “Johnny” Cooper, a in the way of mountain old-timers, kin to mountain man from Newland, who first nature, formed of the same stuff as his disclosed the magic to the wider world. breath-catching home of rhododendron “My grandfather was the original and branch-water and clouds and sundry woolly worm man,” Amanda Cooper creatures. wrote in 2019 on Avery History Hunters, a For years, Kuralt would try to capture Facebook group where the county pools Avery County’s tales whenever he together its memories. sojourned at Anvil Rock, Hugh Morton’s Not that he strove to be, by any means, guest cabin, during breaks in his crossbeing a humble man as well. He never country documentary “On the Road.” had a driver’s license, according to “North Carolina mountain people are another granddaughter, Carla Shomaker, the best storytellers in the world,” he and yet he showed up on the Road wrote in his 1995 book “Charles Kuralt’s Crew, Grandfather Mountain’s olden-day America.” maintenance team, without fail for 43 Folklorists call practices such as woolly years, taming roadside grass with a kind worm weather-forecasting “Traditional of mow scythe that locals recall could Ecological Knowledge” (TEK), with slice through a boot like butter. the weather-telling branch known as “He outworked all the younger guys “ethno-meteorology.” TEK often involves slinging down the weeds on the road,” “sympathetic magic,” the belief in said Cathy Arnette Marks on Avery History microcosm-macrocosm mirroring, where Hunters. Afterward, he would “pop his small, accessible frameworks such as hands together and laugh as he ordered leaves or a ripe American persimmon’s his lunch” at the Top Shop, Marks said. seed leaf, for example, become miniature Every autumn, when the leaves blushed replicas of more cosmic phenomena. and the purple-black pokeberries Often, TEK is highly attuned and accurate drooped low, when goldenrod plumes in its insights, reflecting generations of and lavender aster brushed the slopes real-world observations and survival skills. and apples dappled the trees, the Sometimes it’s more wishful. caterpillars crawled back to John Sympathetic magic unfurls from the Cooper’s gaze, and the big city camera human yearning to render forces beyond lenses followed suit. our control scalable and predictable. It’s “Every year news channels would a coping mechanism that helped preinterview him to see what the winters modern agrarian cultures gather enough were going to be like,” Amanda Cooper bearings to tackle seasonal tasks. A wrote. “Johnny was in several books thumb-sized caterpillar’s coat became and movies and interviewed by Charles a navigable map of winter’s otherwise Kuralt.” Kuralt, for those of a younger paralyzing terra incognita, its 13 segments generation, was a North Carolina native representing 13 manageable weeks. And and longtime CBS television broadcaster this certainty made all the difference, who frequented Grandfather Mountain as unfreezing the psyche even if lacking any a friend of the mountain’s owner, Hugh other effect on the thermometer. Morton. The folkloric interpretations that Cooper CONTRADICTORY WORMS MAKE FOR A DIFFICULT REPORTING broke down for metropolitan journalists ASSIGNMENT seeking local color long preceded showbiz, a storied heritage Cooper Jim Morton, son of Grandfather BY SHWETA MISHRA

John Cooper used his mow scythe to cut grass on Grandfather Mountain.

Mountain owner Hugh Morton, alluded to but did not credit Cooper when writer Scott Nicholson interviewed him about the Woolly Worm Festival’s origins. “October of 1973 was my first autumn in this area,” Morton said. “A gentleman who worked at Grandfather Mountain told me about woolly worms being used to forecast winter.” Cooper’s family remembered enough to fill in the subtext. “Uncle Johnny told Jim Morton about predicting the winter weather using a ‘wooly worm,’ and Mr. Morton took the idea and ran with it,” explained Brad and Sarah Calhoun on Avery History Hunters. Morton’s first step was to report on woolly worm folklore. He wanted to print a forecast based on the worms’ stripes. Soon, however, some mercantile Banner Elk connections nudged Morton in a more enriching direction. This only gained momentum when a pair of contrary-hued worms crossing his path squelched any notion of a credible article. “That’s when it struck me that we needed some formal procedure to use to decide which was going to be the official worm for making the winter forecast,” Morton said. That procedure was a festival race, one that would surely rival the popular appeal and economic returns of Punxsutawney Phil, the New England groundhog. The idea to use a vertical string as a race course also struck Morton in a nonlinear fit of genius, when, scared to

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pick a caterpillar up lest it sting him in the way some caterpillars do, he offered it a blade of grass. To his surprise, the caterpillar crawled up.

THE COLD, FALTERING INAUGURAL FESTIVAL SAVED BY THE PRESS

The first Woolly Worm Festival was slated for Oct. 7, 1978, at Banner Elk Elementary School, according to a 1991 Avery Journal-Times retrospective. It was windy coat-weather with only eight heats and 63 worms. According to some eyewitnesses, several worms appeared frostbitten, and others were so cold they fell from the string. A worm named Brown Sugar, trained by Robin Hitchcock, won the $100 top prize. Two experts, Ed Presnell of Banner Elk and Sandra Glover of Appalachian State University, read its bands and called for a mild winter. “If you went solely by the attendance figures, you probably wouldn’t call the first festival a success,” Morton said in a 2017 interview. “But WCYB-TV in Bristol sent a cameraman, and their report ended up being broadcast nationwide by NBC News. That national TV coverage was really what gave me the motivation to want to keep the event going.”

THE GRASSROOTS YEARS AND SCALING UP

A volunteer Woolly Worm Festival Association ran the event informally for six years. In the seventh year, the Avery

OCTOBER 2026 “Mr. Woolly Worm,” calling the races for nearly four decades, while Morton transitioned into more of a cameraman role while serving as chairman of the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation (GMSF). Nowadays, Tommy Burleson, the 7-foot-2 Avery County native and 1972 US Olympian, interprets and announces winning worms’ forecasts.

FULL CIRCLE: RETURNING TO THE ROOTS

According to Victoria Bowman, festival chairwoman and executive director of the Avery County Chamber of Commerce, the festival partnered with the GMSF in 2025 through the Avery Advantage program, a community and schools engagement initiative. Through the program, naturalist educators visited area schools to teach woolly worm care and ecology and race them with students. The GMSF also charitably covered ticket costs for every Avery County student in grades K-8 plus a free ticket for an accompanying adult. Whether Bowman was conscious of this or not, her instincts for this partnership

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A portrait of John Cooper at work in the 1970s with his well-known smiling eyes. Cooper was one of the pioneer ambassadors of Appalachian woolly worm folklore, sharing their forecasting powers with the mainstream media.

County Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk took it on and generated profit for the first time. Roy Krege of Lees-McRae College became

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 11 aligned with the heart of local woolly worm history. Aside from her standard practice of building positive community connections, she said she went for the conservation partnership because the woolly worm is “native here.” “It made more sense to lean into that,” she said. The collaboration has flourished. “They’re such a consistent partner for the festival, and they really leaned in even more for us this year,” Bowman said. “When Grandfather stepped in last year, that really helped supplement... And then this year they’ve gone even above and beyond not only with the level of financial investment but also with an actual education visit.”

understory. “On Sunday afternoon, he would take all the grandchildren on nature hikes,” Amanda Cooper wrote of her grandfather. Half a century on, the children of Avery County can learn to echo his legacy, setting their worms in the leaves, where the cold will freeze them into popsicles, spring will wake and drape them in their own prophetic coats and summer will metamorphose them for soaring heights.

HISTORY-MAKING

This year, the festival will feature a history tent in the food court where a documentary crew from UNC-Charlotte may record attendees’ oral histories ahead of the 50th festival in 2027. The festival’s history is rich and ongoing. CIRCLES OF RETURN Over the summer, Avery Chamber of The seasons eventually circle back. The Commerce intern Sarah Rudd sifted story that began with a rugged man on through a storage unit and discovered the Road Crew, and the tradition that grew decades of old posters intricately from the grassroots to a planning group to documenting past festivals and awaiting a crowd of more than 20,000 people and curation and display, said Bowman. “(W) 1,000 worms, has crawled back to John e’re laying the groundwork for some Cooper, standing eternally among the pretty stellar things to come for the living things of the mountain, in the forest 50th...,” she said.

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12 • Mountain Times Publications • Woolly Worm Gazette

OCTOBER 2026

Woolly Worm Festival Map 185 Azalea Circle • Banner Elk Historic Elementary School

OCTOBER 2026

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 13

Woolly Worm Festival VENDOR LIST

• 4 Pelicans Woodworking - Row 5 (A) • Adoughables - Row 9 (E&F) • American Glory Handbags - Row 26 (B) • Anna Belle’s Closet - Row 2 (D) • Appalachian Divinitea - Row 2 (C) • Argent Designs - Row 10 (E) • Art Glass and Felt - Row 6 (C) • Asset Art - Row 22 (F) • Avery KnifeWorks - Row 4 (A&B) • Bear Creek Carvings - Row 9 (G&H) • Beautifully Broken - Row 14 (C) • Bigfoot and Bears - Row 17 (C) • Bill Lyons - Row 8 (A) • Bling by Brill - Row 9 (B) • Bobby Carpenter - Row 12 (D) • Boone Barndog - Row 6 (A) • Britts Leather - Row 14 (A&B) • Bull City Leather - Row 8 (B&C) • Bumble Holler Farms - Row 8 (G) • CJC Designs - Row 1 (D) • C Lamb Creations - Row 7 (G&F) • Calvin Bennett Photography - Row 1 (E) • Captures by Dezi - Row 24 (F) • Carolina Barrel Company - Row 17 (A) • Carolyn’s Corner LLC - Row 24 (D) • Celtic Rose Creation - Row 10 (C) • Colonial Merchant - Row 16 (A) • Constanza Diaz - Row 19 (B) • Cove Quilter - Row 17 (E) • Creative Escape Art & Design - Row 5 (G) • Curlinator Designs - Row 24 (H) • Datil Sensation - Row 8 (D) • Dogwood Creek Studio - Row 24 (B&C) • Dom Alexander Designs - Row 24 (G) • Ear To The Ground - Row 24 (E) • East Coast Sauces - Row 26 (C) • Ethnoco - Row 11 (C) • Firefly Cove Creations - Row 10 (D) • Frances & Oscar - Row 26 (D) • Freebird Wire Designs - Row 3 (D) • GW Watts Sauce - Row 13 (A) • Gardener Bob - Row 17 (B) • Gardner’s Wisconsin Cheese and Sausage - Row 23 (F) • Gintermountainrustics - Row 13 (B&C) • Greener by Sartor Designs - Row 22 (B) • Ground Up Pottery, LLC - Row 14 (D) • Highland Croft Candle Company - Row 22 (D) • Honest Elderberry Company - Row 15 (E) • JC Wicks - Row 18 (E) • Jennibeanzz Crafts - Row 15 (C) • Jenny Danko Illustration and Design - Row 16 (C) • Jeri’s Jewels - Row 16 (B) • John Diaz Leather - Row 5 (C) • Johnnie Pearl Jewelry - Row 14 (E) • Joy Fudge Company - Row 3 (A) • Just for Me-Mi Jewelry - Row 20 (A, B&C) • Keepsakes & Flowers - Row 10 (B) • Knot a Frayed Knitting - Row 11 (E)

• Lasting Treasures - Row 9 (C&D) • Laurel Rumph Photography - Row 10 (A) • Lazer Edge - Row 19 (D, E&F) • Leather Link Studio - Row 20 (D&E) • Little Elk Candle Company - Row 15 (B) • Lonon Pottery - Row 12 (C) • Loomy Licious - Row 13 (E) • Mamas Files - Row 12 (B) • Mark and Amy Woodturning - Row 1 (F) • McNeill’s Pottery - Row 23 (B&C) • Michael Kaal Photography - Row 24 (A) • Michael’s Exotic Peppers - Row 11 (D) • Modern Forestry Soy Candles - Row 11 (A) • Mon Petit Chou Art - Row 3 (C) • Mountain Bee Market - Row 3 (E) • Mountain Breeze Pottery - Row 1 (G&H) • Mountain Mist Glasswork - Row 4 (E) • Mountain Momma Organics - Rows 22 and 23 (A&A) • Mountain Quilt Treasures - Row 26 (F) • My Cottage Cosmetics - Row 12 (E) • Mystic Gypsy Soul - Row 21 (A) • Nana B’s Southern Crafts - Row 21 (D&E) • Nicholson Ridge - Row 4 (C) • No Name Crochet - Row 1 (C) • Nomadic Graphics - Row 15 (D) • NoodleCakes - Row 4 (D) • Oak & Ash Creations - Row 18 (C) • Old Beech Mountain Farms - Row 2 (E) • Old Sarges Jerky - Row 26 (E) • PAW-sitively Dashing Pet Accessories - Row 18 (F) • Pillow Sak - Row 13 (D) • Pink Moon By Tabitha - Row 7 (C) • Pixie Produce - Row 7 (A&B) • Plums and Pumpkins - Row 18 (D)

• Potting for Fun - Row 19 (C) • Red Wolf Laser Works - Row 23 (D&E) • Rhodo Clay & Kiln - Row 20 (F) • Santa’s Bag WW - Row 9 (A) • Seeded Hearts Farm - Row 19 (A) • Sew Cute and Comfy - Row 7 (E) • Skipping Pibble Designs - Row 6 (G) • So Loved/So Love - Row 7 (D) • Sokol Creations, LLC - Row 6 (B) • Sparked With Love Permanent Jewelry - Row 18 (B) • Stacey’s Artistry - Row 21 (F) • Stanley’s Produce and Bakery - Row 8 (E&F) • Star Mountain Soap, Co. - Row 6 (D&E) • Sticks and Stitches - Row 26 (G&H) • Stoned Beautiful - Row 22 (D) • Suga’s Enterprises, LLC - Row 17 (D) • Sweet Dandelion - Row 16 (E) • Sweet Girls Crafts - Row 6 (F) • The Arts of Joy - Row 22 (C) • The Custom Creation Lab - Row 2 (A&B) • The Nut House - Row 3 (B) • The Paisley Lamb - Row 3 (F&G) • The Quirk Shop Co. - Row 15 (A) • The Sassy Olive - Row 8 (H) • Trailhead Oven - Row 26 (A) • Trailside Workshop - Row 24 (I) • Trip and Peggy’s Cajun Seasoning - Row 16 (D) • Turtle Old Man Jewelry - Row 5 (D, E&F) • Twilight Eyes Studio - Row 12 (A) • Unique Magnetic Jewelry - Row 1 (I&J) • Whitson and Company - Row 21 (B&C) • Witty With Scents - Row 5 (B) • Wood Therapy NC - Row 11 (B) • Woolly Worms and Stuff - Row 18 (A)

Massive crowds swell downtown Banner Elk each third weekend in October for the annual Woolly Worm Festival.

AJT FILE PHOTO

14 • Mountain Times Publications • Woolly Worm Gazette

OCTOBER 2026

The wormy ins and outs of tickets and parking at the 2026 festival

BY SHWETA MISHRA

To prepare for the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival’s 49th return, catch up on these essential details about directions, parking, entering and attending!

TEN BUCKS AND A SHUTTLE BUS

Admission to the 49th Annual Woolly Worm Festival is $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Children 5 and under may enter for free.

AVERY ADVANTAGE DAY

Hurricane Helene inspired a special Sunday free ticket giveaway for locals. With support from the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, every Avery County elementary and middle school student receives a free ticket plus a free ticket for an adult. The latter allows a responsible guardian to accompany the child.

BUY AHEAD

Tickets are on sale at woollyworm. com, and online buyers get Fast Pass lanes at the gate. Expanded Wi-Fi through SkyLine/SkyBest should speed digital tickets this year, but bring cash for parking and many vendors. Civil Air Patrol cadets, their parents and adult volunteers staff every ticket gate and keep the grounds clean under the direction of Jim Fitzpatrick. “They are a mission critical part, literally,” Bowman said. “Pun intended.” Every ticket gets counted by hand. That tally put last year’s two-day crowd at just more than 22,000 visitors. “...(I)f somebody wants to sit down, we’re like, ‘that’s cool, go count tickets,’” Bowman said, referring to the operational demands of the ever-burgeoning event.

PARKING: A WORK IN PROGRESS

The remote parking and shuttle service that Lees-McRae College launched with the festival in 2025 returns this year. “What we did with Lees-McRae and the remote parking last year, we are truly copying and pasting,” Bowman said. Bowman said that the remote lot map “was really helpful” last year. Shuttle

PHOTO COURTESY AVERY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival has its own dedicated “worm doctor” to verify the eligibility of PHOTO COURTESY AVERY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE winning worms. Woolly worms crawl at will and are available for purchase inside the gates of the Woolly Worm Festival.

hours and lot locations will be posted at woollyworm.com upon being finalized. Bowman said organizers plan a parking promotion with Lees-McRae for Avery Advantage Day regarding Sunday parking, and were still deciding as of early October whether it would be “straight up free or if it’s going to be $5 versus $10.” For the most updated information, please check the festival website before heading out. “The college carries the cost of the labor of paying the driver,” Bowman said, underscoring her gratitude. “They carry the cost of the gas and running those buses on a weekend when they wouldn’t necessarily be running.” She credited Chief Operating Officer Blaine Hansen and other college leaders who, she said, “really believe in the power of the festival for the community.” Lees-McRae athletes work the lots, and students have also lined up to play the festival mascots. “I have had an outpouring of college students wanting to be Merriweather and Mistiweather, and that’s all volunteer-based,” she said. Free downtown spaces are first-come, first-served and vanish early. Churches, banks and other nonprofits run fundraiser lots around town, usually for cash only, so your parking fee becomes a donation. Banner Elk has a limited number

of roads in and out, so arrive early if possible, before 9 a.m. Visitors approaching from the Grandfather Mountain side on N.C. 184 (Tynecastle Highway) are often slowed down due to crowds of pedestrians crossing over to the festival.

THE FREE SIDE

The festival spills into Tate-Evans Park, a non-ticketed area with craft vendors, bounce houses, mini-golf, gem mining, a bubble artist and practice race boards for young trainers. Balloon animals are free, and Bowman has already asked the balloon artist “to stock up on the orange and the black.” Stage music will be piped in. Bowman envisioned the park catching even the stray visitor who “lived under a rock” and wandered into festival weekend by accident.

EAT EARLY

More than 100 craft and food vendors are set to cover the grounds, with 97 more on the waiting list. Favorites run out of food and beverage fairly quickly. “Sunday gets a little squirmy by probably 2 o’clock because folks have sold out of a lot of things,” Bowman said.

EYES IN THE SKY

Banner Elk Police Chief Kevin Hodges

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Mildred the Bear and Merriweather Woolly Worm have teamed up! The Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation has partnered with the Woolly Worm Festival to support the Avery Advantage Program, allowing local children from grades K-8 to learn about woolly worm ecology and conservation and attend the festival for free with one adult in tow. “We are WOOLLY excited,” the GMSF said on its social media platforms.

will raise a new observation tower over the grounds this year so officers can watch the main field, parking lots and the park. This year’s festival takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Historic Banner Elk School, located at 185 Azalea Circle.

OCTOBER 2026

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 15

Picking, twaining and caring for your woolly worm

BY GEORGIA DIXON

Fall’s upon us, and so are the worms that reflect the rust-browns and amber of the changing leaves — woolly worms. Take a walk on the local Town of Boone Greenway Trail or the Banner Elk Greenway and you just might spot a worm inching along the path. To differentiate between woolly worms and other larvae, look for specific physical traits and color patterns. Woolly worms hold a little secret: they are pretty fabulous insects. In addition to being potentially champion racers, they are on their way to learning to fly. They are the larval stage of the Isabella tiger moth — the adult moth exhibits a yellowish, tan or pale orange-yellow wingspan with faint lines and small dark spots. Their color resembles that of American beech trees in the fall.

CHOOSING YOUR COMPETITOR

When picking your woolly bear caterpillar, look for a speedy worm with lots of zest for life. Be gentle when handling it and make sure to bring it promptly home. During its stay with you before the race, house it in a ventilated glass or plastic container with fresh weeds like dandelion and clover. If the weather permits, place it in a cool, sheltered outdoor spot. Make sure that if you’ve collected a group of competitors, you keep only 1 to 2 caterpillars in each container. Decorate their temporary home with dirt, plant debris, twigs and dead leaves so your fuzzy friend will have a place to hide away and rest before the big competition. Clean out their home every day or so to prevent mold. Make sure to pick your worm up from the outdoors closer to the 49th Annual Woolly Worm Festival so that you give it the best chance of both enjoying its stay with you and then hibernating back in the Appalachian Mountains when you release your worm post-race.

NAME YOUR WORM

It’s encouraged to give your woolly worm a name to both increase a sense of belonging and mission-mindedness.

Han Solo the Woolly Worm.

AJT PHOTO ARCHIVES

Gary Smith, woolly worm doctor, and Emma Denton at a previous festival.

AJT PHOTO ARCHIVES

Names like Phoenix, Storm, Pegasus, Dash, Jet and Blaze all might awaken that speediness you need your woolly worm to claim for itself on race day.

PRACTICE FOR RACE DAY

Pre-race, you may want to familiarize your woolly worm with a recreation of the nylon string they will be racing up on the big day. Try attaching a nylon string to a tree branch or wooden dowel to mimic race day conditions. On race day, you will not be able to touch your worm, so in order to encourage it and practice, make sure to gently blow on it to encourage it to climb up the string.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Good luck! With the right preparation, care for your woolly worm and mindset, you might just be able to take home a prize on Woolly Worm Festival weekend! May the odds be in your favor. If your worm wins make sure to take plenty of pictures to commemorate the occasion. An honor indeed!

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16 • Mountain Times Publications • Woolly Worm Gazette

OCTOBER 2026

Festival joins forces with Grandfather Mountain, county school district

Visitors view the surrounding mountain peaks from Linville Peak at Grandfather Mountain. BY GEORGIA DIXON

This year, the Woolly Worm Festival has partnered with both Grandfather Mountain and Avery County Schools. The Woolly Worm Festival has always been supported by the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, Victoria Bowman, executive director of the Avery Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Woolly Worm Festival, said. The GMSF provides free day passes as a “thank you” to volunteers who donate their time and energy to the festival, Bowman said. When she took over as chair in 2024,

Bowman said she sat down with the marketing team at GMSF to explore how they could transform their relationship with the festival into a “more strategic, mission-aligned partnership.” They strategized how the Mountain’s mission to educate and conserve the natural world could align with the festival and its community. “Through this partnership, GMSF helps the festival provide free child and parent admission tickets for Sunday of the festival to every pre-K through 8th grade student in Avery County Schools,” Bowman said. “This year, they went above and beyond by

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION

providing Woolly Worm habitats to every elementary school in the district, along with educational sessions led by their naturalist team.” Bowman said the overarching goal is to give students of a new generation a meaningful way to participate in a tradition uniquely Avery County. Students will have three different touchpoints with GMSF and Woolly Worm Festival teams throughout the festival season, she added. In September, GMSF naturalists conducted their first visit to each elementary school. Grandfather Mountain’s naturalists taught students

how to care for and properly feed their woolly worms, as well as provide information about the worms’ habits and what each needs to survive, Bowman said. In the weeks prior to the festival, the group will visit every elementary school to hold preliminary races on specialty mini woolly worm race boards. At each elementary school, a finalist will be crowned in both pre-K through 2nd grade and 3rd through 5th grade categories. “Finalists will receive VIP packages for themselves and their families to attend the School Championship Race on Sunday of the festival. Their VIP

OCTOBER 2026 experience will include festival access, food vouchers, festival merchandise and the opportunity to compete for a $200 cash prize,” Bowman said. During festival week, organizers will travel to collect the worms, giving students the opportunity to return their Woolly Worms to the festival in exchange for a dollar. “The worms will be turned over to the Avery County High School Key Club, which will sell them during the festival as a fundraiser,” Bowman said. On Sunday, the “Tournament of Champions” will spotlight the schools and highlight elementary school race finalists from across Avery County Schools. There will also be a staff race giving teachers and school employees the chance to compete for prize money, Bowman said. Festival organizers plan to return to schools after the festival to help students release the worms back into nature. “This partnership is a great example of how the festival can be more than just a weekend event,” Bowman said. “By bringing together Grandfather Mountain’s commitment to education and conservation, Avery County Schools and the tradition of the Woolly Worm Festival, we are creating a program that connects our children to their community and teaches them about the natural world around them.” Bowman said she hopes the program will teach students skills beyond caring for their worm. “We want students to learn about conservation, animal care and their connection to the natural world, but also about community, opportunity and belonging.” Students not only get to race a woolly worm, but also compete, earn money through the worm collection program and support other students through the fundraiser, Bowman said. She wants students who might not otherwise have access to an experience like the Woolly Worm Festival to feel a sense of belonging. “At its heart, the Woolly Worm Festival was created to build community and foster a little bit of magic. We want to make sure the next generation gets to experience that magic, too,” Bowman said. Students from Appalachian State University, Lees-McRae College and Avery County Schools will volunteer

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 17

GRAPHIC COURTESY BRAMBLE MEDIA & MARKETING

throughout the weekend in various roles, both behind the scenes and in the forefront, including as mascots and woolly worm handlers. “Watching the students get into those roles and bring the fun and energy to the festival is always a highlight,” Bowman said. Four of the five elementary schools will have tables at the festival to sell products and raise money for their schools—an initiative that directly involves parents, children, teachers and staff, Bowman said. “The goal is for Avery County Schools to be more than spectators—they’re participants, volunteers, fundraisers, competitors and a big part of what makes the festival feel like a true community event,” Bowman added. “This is really just the beginning of what the Woolly Worm Festival can be as a conduit for community, connection and collaboration across Avery County and the High Country.” Bowman is thankful for the opportunity to partner with Grandfather Mountain and Avery County Schools around a shared purpose. “We’re incredibly proud that the Avery County Chamber has the opportunity to produce this event and bring so many incredible partners, businesses, schools and community

organizations to the table,” Bowman said, speaking on behalf of the chamber. “The festival is bigger than a weekend of racing—it’s an opportunity to bring our

community together, create meaningful partnerships and build something that can have an impact well beyond the festival itself,” she added.

18 • Mountain Times Publications • Woolly Worm Gazette

‘Billy’ predicts a true High Country winter

OCTOBER 2026

at Woolly Worm Festival

winter, with each band’s color indicating conditions for that week, dark stripes for BANNER ELK — The streets of Banner cold and snow, lighter ones for warmth. Elk came alive on Saturday and Sunday, As Billy’s coat was examined, judges Oct. 18 and 19, as thousands gathered for and onlookers leaned in close, ready for one of the High Country’s most cherished the moment that defines every Woolly and long-running fall traditions, the 2025 Worm Festival. Billy’s body showed a Woolly Worm Festival. heavy run of black and amber bands up Celebrating its 48th year, the two-day front, a short stretch of brown through the event once again brought together locals middle, and another dark section near and visitors from across the Southeast to the tail. Festival organizers interpreted race woolly worms, celebrate mountain the pattern to mean a cold, snowy start, a culture and keep alive one of Avery brief mild spell mid-season, and a frosty, County’s most unique pieces of folklore. below-average finish heading into late This year’s festival carried special December. The prediction was met with meaning, marking the first celebration approving laughter and the kind of goodwithout the late Roy Krege, better known natured grumbling that comes from locals to all as “Mr. Woolly Worm.” Krege had who know all too well what mountain served as the festival’s emcee and winters can bring. ambassador for decades, known for his “If Billy’s right,” Tommy Burleson said trademark suspenders, booming voice with a grin, “you’d better find your snow and unshakable sense of humor that shovel before Thanksgiving.” defined the event for nearly half a century. Sunday dawned gray and misty, the Organizers paid tribute to him throughout kind of October mountain morning that the weekend with photos, memories and hinted at the winter Billy had just foretold. stories from those who knew him best. Rain moved in early but never managed Saturday’s races drew record-setting to wash out the fun. While the damp crowds, with estimates topping 15,000weather thinned the crowd slightly, it plus visitors, making it one of the largest didn’t stop the racing. Families still lined woolly worm festival gatherings in recent the track under umbrellas, cheering on years. The sun broke through the clouds their favorites as the smell of coffee and mid-morning as Main Street filled with funnel cakes filled the cool air. laughter, music and the sounds of cheers “Saturday was absolutely wild, and from hundreds of worm races taking place Sunday slowed down a bit because of on the festival’s signature racing boards. the weather, but it never stopped,” said Lined shoulder to shoulder, participants, Victoria Bowman, executive director of young and old, coaxed their chosen the Avery County Chamber of Commerce. worms to the top using shouts, whistles “That’s the spirit of this community. Rain and good-natured coaching. The final or shine, the Woolly Worm Festival always race of the afternoon crowned Maribel brings people together.” Murphy, visiting from Indiana, and her Sunday’s championship produced lightning-fast worm “Billy” as the 2025 another local highlight as Fernando champion. and Javier, chefs from Beech Mountain The victory came with a $1,000 grand Club, raced their worm “Marshmallow” to prize and the even greater honor of victory, claiming a $500 prize and plenty predicting the upcoming winter weather of hometown cheers. By the afternoon, for the High Country. According to longdespite the drizzle and gusty wind that held tradition, the winning worm’s 13 body eventually pushed vendors to pack up segments represent the 13 weeks of early, Bowman said the event had still STAFF REPORT (news@averyjournal.com)

AJT FILE PHOTO

Maribel Murphy from Indiana with her worm, “Billy,” the winner in Saturday’s championship race. Billy had the honor of predicting the 2025 winter forecast for the High Country.

exceeded expectations. “We saw some of the biggest crowds we’ve had in years,” she said. Beyond the races, the festival grounds pulsed with the sound of live music that echoed through the streets all weekend, bringing in a fresh slate of artists while keeping the festival’s mountain roots intact. Saturday’s stage saw performances from the Preston Benfield Band, David Wiseman Band, Tasha Ann Band and Aaron Walker, each mixing high-energy country and Appalachian flair. Sunday’s schedule featured local favorites Adam Church, Pressley Laton and Blu Waters,

whose blend of acoustic rock and mountain soul kept the crowd swaying even as the clouds rolled in. Between sets, the festival’s mascots, Merriweather and Mistiweather, roamed the streets posing for photos and handing out high-fives, while the smell of barbecue, roasted nuts and sweet kettle corn filled the mountain air. Craft vendors and artisans lined the grounds with everything from handmade jewelry and wood carvings to Appalachian jams and woolly-worm-themed souvenirs. Children’s laughter rang out from the kids area. Local nonprofits, civic groups, and

OCTOBER 2026

AJT FILE PHOTO

The High Country winter weather forecast, as Bread, baked goods and more were prevalent around prognosticated by champion worm “Billy” at the the festival grounds, along with numerous food 2025 Woolly Worm Festival. vendors on site.

schools manned booths throughout the park as well as local parking lot areas, using the event as both a fundraiser and a community outreach. The Woolly Worm Festival’s charm has always rested in its blend of folklore and friendship, and this year proved no different. The event remains a vital fundraiser for the two primary sponsors of Avery County Chamber of Commerce and Banner Elk Kiwanis, as well as numerous local groups, helping promote tourism and small business across the region. Visitors came from as far as Florida, Ohio, and even Colorado, many marking the festival as a yearly pilgrimage. “It’s one of those things you can’t really explain until you’ve seen it,” attendee Stephanie Scott said, holding a souvenir worm in a small box. “You come for the laughs and leave with a little piece of the mountains.” This year, without Roy Krege’s familiar voice calling the races, there was a quiet sense of gratitude threaded through the celebration, gratitude for the man who helped make the Woolly Worm Festival what it is and for the community that continues to carry it forward. By late Sunday evening, as the vendors packed up and the last notes of live music faded, organizers and volunteers were tired, but proud. The Woolly Worm Festival not only serves as a harbinger of winter

AJT FILE PHOTO

Savanna Nelson-Trent of Johnson City, Tenn., was decked out for the occasion of the Woolly Worm Festival weekend on Saturday, Oct. 18, in Banner Elk.

in the High Country, but also serves as a gathering place for stories, smiles and shared traditions that define life in Avery County. As the 2025 Woolly Worm Festival crawls into the history books, Avery County can rest assured that despite the adversity of recent years, both the tradition and the forecast are alive and well. And if Billy’s stripes are right, the mountains are in for an early start to a long, cold and snowy winter.

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 19

20 • Mountain Times Publications • Woolly Worm Gazette

Analyzing the segments of the

OCTOBER 2026

prognosticating woolly worm BY SHWETA MISHRA

The story is that if the larval stage of the Isabella tiger moth out-crawls 999+ of its brethren and sistren at a merry festival, it earns the right to speak for the sky. Folkmagic exempts this special worm from needing a bachelor’s, master’s or PhD in atmospheric science. “We feel that only the winning worm is strong enough to predict what the weather’s going to be for the mountain,” Woolly Worm Festival co-founder Roy Krege explained on NPR in 2010. After Saturday’s final heat, the winning worm is carried over to Avery County legend Tommy Burleson. The 7-foot-2 county native, NC State national champion and 1972 Olympian once worked at Grandfather Mountain alongside festival cofounder Jim Morton. Now he leans in super close to a fuzzy arthropod to parse out its coat patterns. The woolly worm tradition, compared to more mystical and subjective roles of oracles in other veins (such as groundhog shadows, for instance), is straightforward. A banded woolly worm has 13 segments that correspond with the 13 weeks of winter in mountain lore. Burleson evaluates the champion from head to tail, i.e., the first week of winter to the last, noting the number of black and brown bands and the intensity and purity of their hue. According to folklore, black indicates snowy, colder-than-average weather while brown means more clemency. A speckled blend means light snow or frost with below-average temperatures. Note that other fuzzy tiger moth caterpillars abound, too, as well as entirely unrelated species of all-black or yellow caterpillars. They don’t signify any kind of extraordinary weather event. Last year’s grand prize-winning Winter Forecaster predicted an ambivalent winter. Does that match your experience? Billy, raced by Maribel Murphy of Indiana, offered a pattern that Burleson interpreted as follows:

• Weeks 1 to 4, black: snow and belowaverage temperatures. • Week 5, fleck: light snow or frost. • Weeks 6 to 10, brown: average temperatures. • Week 11, fleck: light snow or frost. • Weeks 12 and 13, black: snow and a chilly finish. While old-timers believe and festival officials merrily insist in woolly worm winners’ 85% accuracy rate, meteorologists demur. Some in the science community do, however, allow for the possibility that a worm’s unique coat pattern reflects something about its past temperature experiences. Because the caterpillar’s central rusty-brown bands broaden after each skin shedding, a predominance of brown signifies an older, more mature caterpillar that benefited from the extra warmth and nourishment of an early spring. Various worms have various color patterns that suggest contradictory forecasts, so even pretending to forecast with credible consistency necessitates narrowing down to a single authoritative worm via a meritocratic process of elimination. Festival cofounder Jim Morton, a magazine editor who had been trying to write an article forecasting weather the old-timey way, originated the idea of a race after he faced this discrepancy himself. Chancing into a largely black woolly worm soon after he’d found a mostly brown one, he concluded he couldn’t proceed in any credible fashion until he could crown a singular arbiter of truth. A race was his brilliant unifying theory, and moreover a highly appealing solution for his commercially minded friends in Banner Elk. The quaint and whimsical idea promised popular appeal and social, cultural and economic capital rivaling that of the famous Pennsylvania groundhog. The woolly worm’s truly astounding powers don’t need imagining. Its cells are full of organic antifreeze such as glycerol, enabling it to overwinter

through temperatures as low as -90 degrees Fahrenheit and even survive repeated freeze and thaw cycles before permanently thawing in spring to cocoon itself in its bristles. The fascinating adaptation has equally compelling origins: Most other kinds of woolly worms turn into tiger moth species with a specialized adaptation that prevents predation by bats, especially big brown bats. Their thorax contains an organ called a tymbal that emits 4,500 ultrasonic clicks per second, jamming echolocation and disorienting their fanged hunters. On the other hand, Isabella tiger moths, the adult form of the woolly worm, lack this organ. Their larvae’s winter-hardy superpower is but a creative adaptation to this original lack, allowing its populations to flourish anyway.

PHOTO BY SHWETA MISHRA

A simple box of fall leaves and grass clippings suffices as a woolly worm habitat.

OCTOBER 2026

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 21

Woolly Worm Festival images through the years

BANNER ELK — For the past 49 years, the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival has been a staple of the fall season in Avery County. Since its inception in 1978, the festival has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors to the High Country, as well as countless dollars to benefit local nonprofit groups and civic organizations. The staff of The AJT searched the newspaper archives for images from Woolly Worm Festivals past, highlighting the joy and entertainment that the event represents and provides on an annual basis. The 2026 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival returns to downtown Banner Elk on the third weekend in October, this year from 9 a.m. to 5 PHOTO COURTESY AVERY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PHOTO COURTESY AVERY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, and from 12-year-old Brian Swinkola sells woolly worms for a buck An aerial view from high above downtown Banner Elk of a previous well-attended Woolly Worm Festival 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18. apiece during the 1988 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival. boasting thousands of attendees.

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22 • Mountain Times Publications • Woolly Worm Gazette

PHOTO COURTESY AVERY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

OCTOBER 2026

PHOTO COURTESY AVERY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Children playing with woolly worms in a worm playground during the “Armstrong” was the champion worm at the 2008 Woolly Worm Festival Marion Krege stands with a collection of woolly worm-themed cupcakes Woolly Worm Festival in downtown Banner Elk. in downtown Banner Elk. at a past festival.

Woolly Worm Gazette • Mountain Times Publications • 23

OCTOBER 2026

AJT FILE PHOTO

“Woolly Worm Dude” Jason DeWitt with festival mascot Merryweather during a previous Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk.

Posing with mascot Merryweather and Tommy Burleson, Joshua Grosser and his worm, Aspen, are joined by his sister, Calli, mom, Cindi, and father, Don, as the winner of $1,000 at the 2017 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival.

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24 • Mountain Times Publications • Woolly Worm Gazette

OCTOBER 2026

EVEN THE WOOLLY WORM CATCHES A COLD SOMETIMES From colds and flu to everyday aches, Roan Mountain Pharmacy is here to help you feel better fast.