North Carolina Black Bear Festival | Eastern NC Now

    Press Release:

June 6, 2015

    Plymouth, NC     To recognize, educate and celebrate this important North Carolina native, the historic Inner Banks town of Plymouth is hosting the first annual North Carolina Black Bear Festival on Saturday, June 6th.

    "It is a little-known fact that the biggest black bears on the planet and the highest black bear densities in the world are not found in Canada or Alaska, but in eastern North Carolina. Mild winters, abundant crops and extensive forests and swamps are the reason that 700 lb. black bears are not uncommon," stated Tom Harrison, Chairman of the Washington County Travel & Tourism Authority.

    The current world record black bear, which came from eastern North Carolina, weighed a whopping 880 lbs. The main attraction is a variety of black bear tours that will take you on a journey into the bears' natural habitat, being offered on public and private land on June 5th -7th. One Bear Tour option is on a private farm where people typically see 20-50 bears or more. Last summer the record for bear sightings in a single afternoon exceeded 100 bears on this immense farm, with as many as 20 bears feeding in one wheat field. Additional bear tours include the Pungo Unit of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and Tideland Research Center. In addition to the bear tours, there will be captive bears in downtown Plymouth so that everyone who attends this event is guaranteed to see bears and learn about these magnificent animals.

    Festival events taking place on Saturday June 6th include a 5K "Run with the Bears", a paddling event, bass tournament, beauty pageant, "Close Encounters of the Bear Kind" Storytelling, live music, and fireworks. The NC Bear Fest will also have many children's events, including a "Baby Bear" dress-up contest, bear painting contest, make a plaster cast of a bear track, fossil dig for sharks teeth, a cane pole fishing contest and more. Craft venders, food vendors and many conservation organizations will be in attendance as well.

    Plymouth is located on Hwy 64 halfway between I-95 and the Outer Banks. Most of the NC Bear Fest events will take place adjacent to the Port O'Plymouth Museum in Downtown Plymouth's Nationally Registered Historic District on the banks of the Roanoke River. Visitors will find there are three museums and a lighthouse replica within three blocks on the river in Plymouth. The town is well known for its Civil War history and the History Channel's "Most Daring Mission of the Civil War" documentary that was filmed there. Now this Civil War community aims to become "Bear Town North Carolina."

    Visit the website, www.ncbearfest.com and Facebook page (NC Bear Fest) often to get the latest updates, event registrations and maps. Email: info@ncbearfest.com

    Contact:     Tom Harrison
      Washington County Travel & Tourism

        (252) 799-9099  •  harrison@greenvillenc.com