It is with deep sadness that the 2020 Woolly Worm Festival of Banner Elk has been cancelled. This is not a decision the Woolly Worm Board of Directors has taken lightly. Every year, profits from the festival are given back to our community to enhance the lives of children and to promote business and tourism in Avery County. Local businesses and organizations also benefit from festival visitors to our community.

After careful consideration and guidance from local and state agencies as well as the Boards of Directors from the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk and the Avery County Chamber of Commerce the decision was made to cancel this year's onsite Woolly Worm Festival on October 17 and 18, 2020. We know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.

Your safety comes first, and we're grateful to all who planned to be a part of this year's Woolly Worm Festival, and who've made it a fall tradition since 1978. We hope you'll join us when the Festival returns to Banner Elk in 2021.

In the meantime, the Woolly Worm Festival’s Board of Directors will be developing a link from our website to many of our vendors so that you will still be able to support and purchase some of their wonderful handicrafts online. The Board is also working on a way to decide which Woolly Worm will determine this winter’s weather forecast with virtual online races. Plans are being made for a way that children can interact with Merryweather online. Please continue to check our Woolly Worm website (www.woollyworm.com), Avery Chamber website (www.averycounty.com) and the Woolly Worm Facebook page for further details as plans develop.