Here it is, folks. The last festival of Jeri’s Jackpot before we move on to bigger and better things. As promised, this week is all about the Tarantula Awareness Festival and the absolute weirdness that it is.
I myself am not a big fan of spiders. I find them creepy and scary, and usually, you’ll hear me scream in horror as I run away from them. I’ve been known to even avoid a room all day if a spider I’ve seen can’t be found and relocated.
In Coarsegold, California, near Yosemite National Park, the festival launches off every year in October. The family-friendly event includes costume contests, spider holding, screaming contests, arachnid races and hairy leg contests. I’ll pass on the arachnid holding, thanks.
The festival has been running for 21 years and is a big hit with locals and those from afar as well. The activities are free and there’s even a tricycle contest for those over the age of 18.
The festival was created to celebrate the annual migration of local tarantulas that emerge in the fall to find a mate before hibernating for winter. It is used to educate people on the importance of tarantulas and teach the community that while they can be creepy, they are harmless to humans and vital to the ecosystem.
People who own tarantulas bring them to the festival for races, in which the spiders are placed in a dryer tube and the first one to make it to the end wins their owner a $50 gift card, which is just one of the ways that people can celebrate and have fun at the event.
The costume contest is generalized and is not just about dressing like a spider. In addition to spider related activities, there are also fall themed festivities as well, such as pumpkin carving, baking contests and various other activities for people of all ages to participate in.
The festival combines fall, Halloween and spiders all in one. What more could you want?
Unlike several other festivals we’ve taken a look at, it appears that this one truly is one of a kind. For that, I’m kind of thankful. I really don’t know if a traveling tarantula festival, or even more than one would be the kind of thing I’d want to see.
Jeri Hensley
Graphic Designer