A Major Festival

Always held during Memorial Day weekend, the White Squirrel Festival  brings the town folk and visitors together.  While we are known as the "Land of the Waterfalls," we are also famous for our white squirrels.  White squirrels (not albino) make up 37% of the gray squirrel population in town.  You can read more about them here.  The White Squirrel Festival is the second largest festival of the year, exceeded only by the Halloween Festival.  (We are, of course in Transylvania County.)

The streets are closed off and various vendors set up tents and booths along the street.  Many free games are set up for the children and the festival is always entertaining.  We almost always find some crafts that we must have.

A view from Main Street

 While there are various white squirrel runs and other games to play, the White Squirrel Derby tops them all.  There are many divisions for the soap-box derbies and many people have worked all year on their cars.  Various businesses enter the special derby for shop owners.

Looking down Jailhouse Hill where the cars will race.  No matter that the jail is no longer in the courthouse, we still call it Jailhouse Hill.

 You can purchase almost anything with a white squirrel on it.  Or simply purchase a stuffed toy.

A parking lot is set up for skateboarding.  This very agile three-year-old plans to take his scooter down one of the ramps.  He is not old enough to be in the area and I'm not sure who was supposed to watch him.  It was hard for me not to tell the little guy he probably shouldn't do that.   He fell on the way down, got up to see if anyone saw him.  Then he went to the ramp again.  I stopped watching.

One area had dozens of hula hoops and everyone seemed to have her own style.  I say "her" because I did not see one adult male pick up a hula hoop. 

I must confess that I do not particularly like people dressed in animal costumes.  I don't like the mascots for college ball games, I don't like costume parties, and I especially don't like clowns.  So you can imagine this costume head freaked me out.

It's amazing that I could hold the camera still long enough for a photograph. 

 I fear that some children might have nightmares after seeing this freaky head on the table.



That's more like it.  (Although in truth I didn't want to get anywhere near it.)

(This photograph from 2010 in "Mountain Express)

You may notice the people in the photograph have squirrel tails, ears, and whiskers.  They lost the record they won in 2010 for the most people dancing in white squirrel costumes this year.  Perhaps we should have stayed longer and participated.  Or maybe not.

Another weekend of small-town fun in the mountains.