10/30/2025
A few years ago, an idea was sparked from an on-a-whim visit to the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference. Meteorologist Mark Baldwin thought maybe a Bigfoot Festival could work for the Upper Cumberland region. He tossed the idea around and found a few people who thought so too. With that, the Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival was born.
The festival started off a little rocky, with the covid crisis putting plans for the very first event on hold. But the committee and the spirit of the festival rallied, and the Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival 2021 was a huge success. That success continued for the next four years, with the Fifth Annual Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival being the biggest success yet, raising more than $22,000 for veterans assistance!
The festival was conceived and continued to be a benefit each year, with its committee members being strictly volunteers and getting no compensation whatsoever, other than the reward of knowing that real dollars were raised for local nonprofits. We found wonderful partners like Blue Life Security and dedicated, amazing sponsors like Upper Cumberland Federal Credit Union. Without those partnerships and sponsors who saw the vision, we would never have made it past an idea, and certainly not for five successful years. We also would never have gotten one, much less five incredibly successful events off the ground without all the amazing volunteers who showed up for us. Through those five years, the festival raised more than $80,000 for veterans assistance, first responders, and other well-deserving nonprofit agencies.
More than that, the festival established itself as a fun fall community event, one of the two main goals of the committee from its inception. The 2025 crowd showed in a big, big way, that the festival met that goal as well, and then some. It became apparent that this type of success is not sustainable for just a handful of people, and more than anything, the Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival committee wants to see the festival thrive and continue to grow as a wonderful tradition for years to come.
The committee therefore has decided to pass the reins of the festival to some very capable hands. Beginning in 2026, the Upper Cumberland Bigfoot Festival will be managed by Center Hill Events. Angela and Tyler are well-established in the festival market, and we are confident that they will continue to grow the Bigfoot Festival in the years to come!
The committee, a handful of people who love our community, love the people, and have a heart to serve, has loved every aspect of creating and growing this incredible, stellar event. We all look forward to seeing it continue to get better each year, and we walk away with the best memories of the past several years. We are so proud of what we’ve created, and we are honored that our community embraced our idea and gave so much to help so many.
This is truly a bittersweet decision for us, not one we’ve taken lightly, but one we’ve made with the full assurance that we gave it our all and made it a huge, beyond-expectations success. Thank you all for being part of this journey with us, and let’s continue to hang out with Sasquatch in October!
