Sasquatch Festival is Family Fun with Celebrations of the Cryptid

Glide Revitalization is hosting the first ever Sasquatch Festival on Saturday. The family-friendly, free event will start at 4 p.m. and go until 10 p.m. at 301 Glide Loop Dr. There will be a vendor village of artists selling wares, games, paid bounce houses, four musicians, a movie, a Sasquatch costume competition, a Sasquatch expert on hand with samples of evidence, and five food trucks, including Beast burgers. "You can't have a Sasquatch Festival without Beast Burgers," event planner Kayla Griffis said. The plan is to have this event become an annual fundraiser for Glide Revitalization said Griffis who is the event planner from Ascend Events in charge of the festival. The nonprofit has grant funding specifically focused on community events and is using those funds to establish this festival. "You have to build something," Griffis said. "It's a family fun festival sprinkled with Sasquatch." Glide Revitalization was founded in 2014 with the goal of bettering Glide. After the Archie Creek Fire in 2020, a large part of their work has focused on supporting survivors, but they also have done movie nights in the summer and are working on bringing needed resources to Glide. Douglas County County is home to the 3rd most Sasquatch sightings, tied with Umatilla and Lane Counties. Oregon has the fifth most sighting in the country according to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, the only scientific research organization, according to the website. Kevin Lindley who worked with the Bigfoot Field Research Organization from 1998 to 2004 and was on the quality control expert team for the documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science." He will bring casts and tufts of hair from his research. There will also be cutouts made by Glide Revitalization Executive Director Shawn Cobb so attendees can see themselves as Sasquatch.