Dust off your camera, break out your tinfoil hat and ready your Bigfoot hunting gear as Chardon’s first CryptidCon rolls into town Oct. 11.
Dust off your camera, break out your tinfoil hat and ready your Bigfoot hunting gear as Chardon’s first CryptidCon rolls into town Oct. 11.
The event, hosted on Chardon Square from noon to 6 p.m. by Jessy Harper of the Ohio Viking Festival, is set to unite skeptics and cryptozoologists alike in a day celebrating mystery, folklore and the downright bizarre.
“Cryptids are creatures rumored to exist, often based on folklore, eyewitness accounts, or mysterious sightings. Unlike animals proven by science, cryptids remain unconfirmed, lurking in the space between myth and reality,” according to the Ohio Viking Festival website.
While many may be aware of famous cryptids like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, one doesn’t need to venture out to the Scottish Highlands or deep into a North American forest to find one — the Kirtland Melon Heads are a local example, as is Bessie the Lake Erie Monster and the Loveland Frogman of Loveland, Ohio.
In fact, Bigfoot will be making the trek to Chardon for a meet-and-greet at the event, and will take to the gazebo at 1 p.m., per the festival’s schedule.
The festival will also feature a cryptid cosplay contest, where visitors may dress as their favorite mysterious fiend, food trucks, authors and vendors.
Following Bigfoot’s rare public sighting, the Mystery Date podcast — run by Christian and Kate Sullivan, who discuss mysteries, true crime and the overall strange and unusual — will take over the gazebo space from 2-3 p.m. They will be succeeded by the Wind and Sand Dance Company for a belly dance performance at 3 p.m., according to the festival schedule.
Dancing will continue following the conclusion of the performance, with a dance party from 4-4:45 p.m.
In addition to food trucks, beverages and baked goods will be available inside the Heritage House, which is also where spotlighted authors such as Chelsea Banning and Tiffany D. will be set up, according to the festival Facebook, adding outside of the gazebo, Gnoble the Gnome will be wandering the grounds, as will a stilt performer.
Vendors vary in wares, ranging from teas and soaps to carvings and armor.
Further information is available at the event’s website, www.ohiovikingfestival.com/cryptidcon-and-curios, or its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/CryptidConandCurios.
