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Every year, a circuit of Bigfoot festivals runs from the California redwoods to the Tennessee mountains to the Oklahoma deep woods. Some are low-key community events. Some draw thousands. A few bring in serious researchers alongside the souvenir sellers. If you’re planning to attend one in 2026, here’s the confirmed schedule and what each event actually offers.
Bigfoot Days — Estes Park, Colorado | April 25, 2026
Estes Park Bigfoot Days kicks off 2026’s festival season with a free outdoor event against the backdrop of Rocky Mountain National Park. The day starts with a Bigfoot BBQ on Friday, followed by the main festival Saturday. Expect live appearances from Bigfoot TV personalities, a Bigfoot calling contest, axe throwing, family activities, food and craft vendors, and organized area Bigfoot tours. It’s one of the most accessible festivals on the calendar — free admission, solid research programming, and a setting that makes sense for the subject matter.
Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Festival — Townsend, Tennessee | May 2, 2026
The Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Festival turns six in 2026 and is celebrating with a Bigfoot Birthday Bash theme. Guest speakers, live music, food trucks, vendor booths, and contests are all on the schedule, along with birthday-themed activities including photo ops with Party Sasquatch. The Townsend location puts attendees close to Great Smoky Mountains National Park — one of the more credible Bigfoot habitat zones in the eastern US, with documented sighting reports going back decades.
Forest County Bigfoot Festival — Marienville, Pennsylvania | June 12–14, 2026
Three days in the Allegheny National Forest. The Forest County Bigfoot Festival is one of the newer events on the circuit but has built a strong reputation quickly. The 2026 edition runs June 12–14 and includes food and craft vendors, live music, guest speakers, a 5K run, and the popular Bigfoot Hunt — a structured search event in the surrounding forest. Pennsylvania’s Allegheny region has a significant concentration of historical sighting reports, which gives the hunt component more context than most.
Bigfoot Daze — Willow Creek, California | June 27, 2026
The oldest and most historically significant festival on this list. Bigfoot Daze has been running for 64 years as of 2026, and Willow Creek has the strongest claim of any town to the Bigfoot capital designation — it’s within 40 miles of Bluff Creek, where Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin shot the 1967 film footage that remains the most debated piece of Bigfoot evidence ever produced.
The June 27 festival includes the annual Bigfoot parade starting at 10am in downtown Willow Creek, live music, food and craft vendors, a call contest, and presentations by Bigfoot researchers. The adjacent China Flat Bigfoot Museum is open during the festival and is worth the visit on its own — the cast collection alone is substantial.
Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference — Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Separate from the Townsend festival, the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference in Gatlinburg is a research-focused event with presentations, panel discussions, and direct access to field investigators. The conference format keeps the focus on evidence and methodology rather than merchandise. Check the event site for 2026 dates — historically it’s run in the summer months. Being adjacent to Great Smoky Mountains National Park gives the conference an obvious field component if speakers want to organize excursions.
Hocking Hills Bigfoot Festival — McArthur, Ohio | August 14–15, 2026
The Hocking Hills Bigfoot Festival moves to the Vinton County Fairgrounds for 2026 and runs two full days on August 14–15. It’s free and family-oriented, with presentations at a main stage, a Jeep show, live music, a squatch-and-seek activity, and local food vendors. The Hocking Hills region of southeastern Ohio has produced a consistent number of BFRO-documented sightings over the years, making this one of the better-situated events in the Midwest.
Georgia Bigfoot Conference — Mt. Airy, Georgia
The Georgia Bigfoot Conference is one of the larger research-focused events in the Southeast. The 2026 date had not been confirmed at time of writing — check the event website as it typically announces in early spring. The conference brings in over 50 vendors alongside 400-seat convention panels with active Bigfoot researchers, VIP meet-and-greet options, and a mix of serious investigation content and community vendors. Clayton and the surrounding North Georgia mountains have a documented sighting history that makes the location relevant rather than arbitrary.
Honobia Bigfoot Festival — Honobia, Oklahoma | October 2–4, 2026
Three days in the deep woods of southeastern Oklahoma. The Honobia Bigfoot Festival and Conference runs October 2–4, 2026, and it’s one of the more unusual events on this list — held in a genuinely remote location with organized Bigfoot expeditions into the surrounding Kiamichi Mountains, which have produced some of the most consistent and well-documented sighting clusters in the southern US. The conference includes presentations by prominent field researchers, craft and food vendors, live music, and a free kid zone. Veterans are recognized with special honors. It’s one of the few festivals where the location itself does real work.
West Virginia Bigfoot Festival | October 9–11, 2026
Three days starting October 9. The West Virginia Bigfoot Festival runs through the weekend with events beginning Thursday at noon. West Virginia has a dense concentration of historical sighting reports, particularly in the eastern counties, and the festival draws on that regional credibility. Check the event site for the full 2026 schedule and venue details.
Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival — Tennessee | October 17–18, 2026
The Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival closes out the 2026 calendar on October 17–18 in Cookeville, Tennessee. Two days of live music, vendor booths, local food trucks, crafts, contests, and Bigfoot programming. The Upper Cumberland plateau region of Tennessee has its own documented sighting history separate from the more publicized Smoky Mountain reports — it’s underexplored territory for Bigfoot researchers, which makes this event worth watching as it builds out its programming.
Great Florida Bigfoot Conference — Ocala, Florida
The Great Florida Bigfoot Conference is organized by Gather Up Events and brings researchers and enthusiasts together in Ocala, which sits in the middle of Florida’s Bigfoot country — the Ocala National Forest and surrounding swampland have a documented sighting history that dates back well before the conference existed. The 2026 date had not been confirmed at time of writing. Check the Gather Up Events page for updates.
Texas Bigfoot Film Festival — Marshall, Texas
The Texas Bigfoot Film Festival at Marshall’s Memorial City Hall Performance Theater is the most niche event on this list — and one of the most interesting. It focuses on cryptozoology and cryptid cinema, screening films and bringing filmmakers in for Q&As alongside Bigfoot researchers. It’s the only festival on this circuit where the evening programming is as compelling as the daytime events. Check the event site for 2026 scheduling, as dates typically announce in the summer prior to the fall event.