SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello, I am Joshua P. Warren. This is Joshua P. Warren Daily, and I have a special treat for you, a live update from the field, because yes, it is September the 14th of 2019. This is the day of what they are calling the biggest Bigfoot Festival in the Eastern U.S. It is the Western North Carolina, that is WNC Bigfoot Festival in Marion, North Carolina, not too far from Asheville, North Carolina, as a matter of fact. And who do you think could possibly be there? Yes, you guessed it. He is the Cryptid Guy, the president of the Asheville Cryptid Society, my great friend Christian McLeod. You are at a Bigfoot festival right now. You must be in heaven.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

I am living the dream, brother. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

I'm doing really well. I gotta tell you, I envy you a little bit. You know, I'm here on the other side of the country, but I wish I was there hanging out with you and Dr. Mulder and and and Shelly Wright. So uh capture the spirit for us. What is it like to be there at the festival today?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Everything is Bigfoot here, Josh. Everyone's wearing Bigfoot t-shirts, everyone's uh there's probably 40 or 50 different people dressed as Bigfoot. Uh everyone's been in a great mood. There's food, there's fun, there's snacks, they've got a little kitty playhouse, they've got everything here you can imagine. It's it's been a really interesting day. It's been real cool. Um it was a little bit rainy when we started, and then it kind of dried up, and now the sun's out, sky's blue, and everyone's having a good time.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

And so now uh it must be kind of hot there, though, right? Like what do you think the temperature is today?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

It's it's probably right around 85, maybe 86, but you know, everyone's got the little tents that they're under, and there's drinks everywhere, you know, people drinking lemonade, bottled waters. So it's it's actually it's very bearable. It is not bad at all, and everyone's uh seeming to have a real good time.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

See, this is what I'm thinking. Are there people running around in Bigfoot outfits right now in that weather?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

There are.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

One just ran right by me, yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

It's like that Jack Lynx beef jerky guy just went front by me, waved. He pointed at me, waved, and just kept running. Well, you know what?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Uh that's uh you bring up a good point. Is there actually like a Jack's Lynx booth there and everything?

SPEAKER_01 2:25

No, I wish there was, because I could use some beef jerky right now or some nice barbecue, but no, there's no no Jack Lynx beef jerky guy. Um the uh Cliff Barrett is or Barrett, I am I'm saying his name right. He was from the uh the Finding Big Fud show. Uh he was here. Uh I actually got a picture of him. Very nice guy. Uh we we actually talked about uh being teachers and uh we uh spoke about some uh things we uh actually knew some people in common and uh he told me to tell you hello. Um it's just been uh a very, very interesting day. Everyone here has just been in a real good mood, it's been very positive. Uh everyone's just having fun. It's it's really nice that a town like Marion will just literally, Josh, Marion is shut down for the Bigfoot event. Yeah. That is all that is going on. If you're not in the event, then your area is being used for parking. So it's actually kind of cool that uh a team like this can pull together and do such a nice job on an event. And it speaks a whole lot to the ability of a small town like Marion when they want to work together and and uh perform such a nice uh service for everyone in in West North Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Well, I think I've also seen some pictures of a Bigfoot beer.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Is that right? I you know what? I've I've seen them, I've seen the mucks, I have not yet found that. That is the next stop. We have been so busy at our place we haven't been able to go anywhere yet. In fact, we missed a town hall meeting. I was a little uh I was a little upset about that, but there's nothing I could do. I didn't even know what was going on, and just it went uh it went so quick. So they were they were gonna uh have uh something. I I guess what happened is uh from what I originally understand, they were gonna do things a little bit differently, and then they decided to do a uh one town hall meeting where everyone got together and and Cliff was there and they did their uh stories. So, you know, and then that went real well. So uh everyone was happy with that. But as I said, there was just so many people here you didn't even know anything was going on.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

So now what does your boot look like? You've posted some really nice pictures, and yeah, and thank you for a big haunted Asheville sign, and you have your Asheville Cryptid Society sign there. But uh, what does your boot look like for those who don't pick?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

I've got the one of those little walk-under tents, and it's blue, and then of course I've got investigator Shelly D. Wright with me, and she's got a section of the table with all her really cool uh paranormal Wicca wares, and then the one, the only, the indescribable Dr. Mulder has uh some of his wishing machines that he specifically built uh some radionics devices to attract cryptids. And then, of course, I'm just selling quartz and uh some of my uh Asheville Cryptid and Paranormal Society t-shirts. So it's a whole eclectic bunch of stuff. Uh it's just it actually is really cool. It looks like a Mishmonz is just a bunch of cool paranormal stuff. And I've got signage hanging up, I've got the cryptid guy hanging up, I've got the big conduit stuff hanging up, of course, haunted Asheville uh and the haunted asheville museum and our tours and the different times they're listed. And uh what else do we have up here? Uh we've got the of course the coast to coast sign uh with George Norrie. Uh so we we've kind of we're advertising for everyone we deal with, and it just it looks kind of cool. Had all these signs made specifically for this event, so it's it's kind of neat.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

You know, uh from uh the perspective of your booth, it must be interesting to see the types of people who are there because me, for example, I'm just imagining uh the the streets are full of guys dressed in camo who are geeking out over their surveillance equipment. But honestly, what what is the selection of the Josh?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

I've had I've had four people that have been on my haunted ash show tours come up. Uh I I mentioned this to them, they actually showed up. We've had uh people asking all about the tours, so it's just been it's been an incredible mishmash of people. There's not one uh superfluous type of individual here, it's just a whole amalgamation of everyone. Uh there are the camo guys, uh, and then there's you know the people that are just here to have a good time with their families, and everyone's just having a good time and getting along. I don't think there's been any issues at all. Uh I I've everything I've seen, everyone's just been real nice to each other, very polite, and uh it's just been a real good time. Yeah, I think Marion did a great job. Yeah, Marion did a great job putting it together. There's police everywhere, there's DMTs, uh the the uh facilities manager is obviously doing his job. There's you there's in a full trash can around. I mean, they've they've been on it, everything, so they've just done a fantastic job.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

I'm sure it's a safe environment. You know that. At the very least. So, okay, well, that's great. So you've got kids there and adults and a little slice of everybody. So now, that said, people come up to your booth, they know they're talking to you, the president of the Asheville Cryptid Society. Have you gotten any interesting news stories or leads today?

SPEAKER_01 7:10

I I have gotten five or six already. Uh, I've had some people want to join the uh Ashville Crypt and Paranormal Society. I've had people that have uh uh been on my tours, I've had people that have listened to my podcasts come up to me, and uh it's been it's just like I said, it's just been such an eclectic group of people. But I've got five or six really cool stories, and three or four of them I'm definitely going to be investigating later this week.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

And I guess this is an obvious question we should address. Why Marion, North Carolina? Why do they decide to do this festival there?

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Well, you know, uh Marion, North Carolina has a lot of Bigfoot signings, Josh. And uh I believe Marion made Bigfoot its official uh city animal. I if I'm if I'm saying that wrong, uh forgive me, but I believe that's what they uh they did. They made Bigfoot their official city animal.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

So I think Bigfoot here's a lot of sightings. And then yeah, and then Nobby's not too far from here. And as you know, Brown Mountain's not that far from here, you know, and and we've had sightings of Black Mountain. So this whole region is just very, very soaked in in Bookfoot uh Bigfoot's uh folklore and sightings. So I think that has a lot to do with it. And you yourself, you've done research in this area, so you know how how it goes back throughout the history. And the city of Marion was founded by Francis Marion, or the county was, and Francis Marion was a firm believer in in Bigfoot and Sukaloo. Uh there's even a story about him uh being chased by Red Coach in the Revolutionary War uh in one of the swamps here locally, and he knew uh him and his men weren't survived if they didn't get some kind of help. So he specifically took the Red Coach into an area where he knew Bigfoot was, they walked out, the red coach did not. So you know, there's just all kinds of stories that that happen here. Whether it's true or not, again, meet those and folklore. I don't have to tell you how that is, but whether smoke there's fire, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Oh never. No, no, that's I that's uh that's a fascinating story. That's a good one. Well, I tell you what, I don't want to keep you from the booth. I know you're in in demand, and uh let but I want everybody to know if they go to cryptidguy.com, I saw if you do that, it'll actually switch you over to the actual cryptid society website. I did that on purpose, yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

I did that on purpose because I was managing two websites and I was putting almost the same thing on both of them. So when I put the paranormal back in actual cryptid and paranormal, I did that just to make things easy. And uh I was able to get the URL switched over. And I think it's working out better. I'm I'm redoing my website and I'll be putting up a website store. So it was just it was just more convenient to do that. I don't have the time or talent like you to run three or four different websites. So I have to make things simple.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Your websites have quality. That's the one thing I'm lacking.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

So no, you're uh no, you're I still download pictures off of your website, so don't even go there. You you're still the man.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

So it's C-R-Y-P-T-I-D, folks, cryptidguy.com to learn about what Christian is up to. And also, you know, uh ordinarily, Christian, you would be uh a uh haunted ash full tour guide tonight at nine o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

I know, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

I feel like you know. So people can contact you also if they want to request you as uh their personal guide, and we can arrange that and make that happen. So all that stuff is available by contacting you. So well look, I I again I wish I were there partying with you guys. I know that uh when the festival ends, the real party's just gonna get going. But give everybody my best, and and I I want you if you just do your do one thing for me, okay? Bring a live bring a live Bigfoot back to the museum, all right? I will do what I can, Josh. All right.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

And no promises.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Do what I can do. All right, thanks for the report, my friend.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

All right, brother. You take care, man. Thanks for calling.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

You bet.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Bye bye.