STATESVILLE, NC – Are you a shutterbug? In Statesville, you can capture a hot air balloon ascending, a pumpkin-smashing contest or perhaps a spirit seen only by a select few. The last two October weekends will provide many photo opportunities.
On Friday, October 24-Sunday, October 26, the Carolina BalloonFest will be held at the Statesville Regional Airport.
Then on Friday, October 24, Saturday, October 25, Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1, you might hear, see or feel paranormal sensations during the Haunted Statesville walking tour in downtown.
And on Saturday, November 1, watch little kids use a great big mallet to smash pumpkins at the PumpkinFest street festival in downtown Statesville. The Bell & Howard Chevrolet Punkin Chunkin Catapult Competition presented by Mitchell Community College will be held that morning.
The Carolina BalloonFest is the second-oldest hot air balloon rally in the nation and is celebrating 35 years colorful magnificence. The event will include North Carolina wine tastings, a children’s activity area and a variety of musical performances.
Gates are open from 3-10 p.m. on Friday, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday and 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday. Weather permitting, mass ascensions are planned for 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and 4:30 p.m. all three days. Admission is $8 per person.
Catch the celebrated Balloon Glow one night and maybe get spooked by ol’ Tom Dula the next - rather Tom Dooley – as the Kingston Trio sang in the 1950s hit “Tom Dooley.”
Haunted Statesville tours run from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, October 24, Saturday, October 25 and the following weekend, Friday October 31 and Saturday November 1. The starting point is at the old city hall.
The song’s lyrics say ol’ Tom got caught in a love triangle and was hung in downtown. Well, that’s not exactly true. Historians say he took his last breath out in the country –but folklore lives on.
Some true stories do exist, like Wampus. Local newspaper writer and retired history teacher O.C. Stonestreet recounts that it was a mysterious creature first seen in the early 1930s. “Researching old newspapers, I learned people heard howlings, lost chickens and described it as a mixture of a dog and cat with a horn in it’s head. It was elusive, yet omnivorous.”
The Haunted Statesville ghost tour includes a stop at the Vance Hotel. Stonestreet tells the story that there are two documented suicides there. One of them was a drowning in the indoor pool.
He says that during the filming of the movie Leatherheads, several members of the production crew asked who the young wet girl was.
That’s spooky.
The 6th Annual PumpkinFest is full of photo opportunities – pumpkin chunking, smashing, eating and the list goes on. It will be held from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
For more information about all of these events, log onto http://www.visitstatesville.org/ or call 877-531-1819.
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