The haunting of Bladenboro continues

BLADENBORO – “Boy, howdy,” did we have a time at the 2025 Beast Fest Oct. 24-25 in Bladenboro.

Vendors and food trucks began driving into town Thursday night and then on Friday morning the setup started. Although officially the festivities didn’t start until 5 p.m. Friday – but even then, it looked almost overwhelming at all people setting up, all the people arriving and all the things this little town could pack into one small area of town.

The legendary Beast Burgers were flying off the shelves as well as the Beast Breath Wings at Aunt B’s and people needed a change of clothing after wearing all the food they were trying to eat.

At 7 p.m. The Thomas Road Band kicked up the country music a few notches and even on a chilly October night, they had everyone warmed up and not wanting to leave.

Saturday morning brought a welcome from several of the local dignitaries who were “digging” Beast Fest. The colors were presented by the local fire department and then the Star-Spangled Banner was sung to a cheering crowd. At a little bit after 10:15 a.m. the announcement was made that the Bladenboro Beast had been sighted and he seemed to have commandeered a vintage fire truck. It took only a moment, but he was on the loose in the makeshift square set up across from downtown.

He was out of control, passing out American Flags and candy and beating up anyone who go in his way including brightly colored celebrities. As he blended into the environment around him, it was like everything was launched. The dance teams, the local musicians, a huge car show, rifle raffles, apple pie bake-offs, trick or treat, a Halloween costume contest, karate shows, the corn hole tournaments, the carnival rides and the lines waiting for food from the vendors.

And the big event that capped off the weekend was the music by the Catalinas who created gridlock on the dancefloor. Though the night cooled off – the sweat flowed from the energy and synergy of this band. It was 50 years ago that Johnny Barker wrote “Summertime’s Calling me,” and here a half-century later – the band was bringing the high heat in the autumn breezes.

This was one of the biggest and best Beast Fests that has ever been held, according to Bladenboro Mayor David Hales. There were over 150 different exhibits, vendors and food trucks with interactive activities for the kids and information for the adults.

“The community came together as I’ve never seen it,” one of the local vendors said. “It’s like it was all brand-new this year.”

Bladen County Commission Chair Charles Ray Peterson, who lives in Bladenboro was in his glory and ear to ear smiles.

“My motto for Beast Fest is crank it up,” Peterson said. “We had a great time in Bladenboro in Bladen County. We had plenty of food, a new carnival this year and a car show and some of our old favorites were back – like David Haase, the Rocky Point Balloon Man who has been with us now for 16 years. The community college was set up and we were ready to go!”

Before the event started Friday night, Peterson was asked about parking and he responded, “Where to park? Good luck,” and he chuckled.

People in Bladenboro are now used to memorizing the back streets and getting around pretty handily, but once you get downtown, it can get a little dicey for finding a spot to park. This year the Town had golf carts out picking up those people who needed a lift from the outskirts.

In Bladen County, there are some quaint little communities.

One of those being Bladenboro with approximately 1600 people. The community has had its share of adversity of late with flooding, rebuilding and then more flooding, but the town has become stronger and more unified because of this. The term “town” should be renamed “family,” for that is a more accurate definition of those who live and work and raise their families there.

It is a town that knows how to roll up their sleeves and work together to create magical things. One of the most recent “magical events” that happens each October is an event they call “Beast Fest” named after a legendary and actual event that once upon a time transpired in that community.

According to boosttheboro.org, “In the small, southeastern community of Bladenboro, North Carolina, a series of vampire-like killings of pets and livestock was happening. The creature doing the killings was described by witnesses as a ‘large-like cat creature somewhere between 4 and 5 feet long.’ “Some said it resembled a bear—-Some claimed the creature’s cries sounded like a baby or a woman crying, but much louder. Whatever it was, it was very frightening to the community. So much so that the locals became afraid to leave their homes after dark.

“Parties of armed men were organized. Over 700 hunters and trappers converged on the community of Bladenboro, vowing to either hunt down and capture the vampire beast or better yet KILL THE CREATURE on-site. “Sure, there are those who say this was all just a hoax, but many residents who lived in this small community during those years still claim this to be true. Either way, for over 65 years, the creature commonly referred to as “The Beast of Bladenboro” remains an unsolved mystery for the Town of Bladenboro and we may never know the truth.”

Now, if you talk to Gracie Todd, a waitstaff person at Aunt B’s, she will swear up and down that she’s killed the beast and threw it in a dumpster downtown. She invites anyone who wants to come to Aunt B’s and hear her tall tale of adventure, thrill and intrigue.

According to Rebecca Hester, Bladenboro pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy, back when the late Hiram Hester was president of Boost the Boro, the group was looking for creative ways to draw people to Bladenboro.

“The only thing that they had really been famous for, was back in the ‘50s when the beast of Bladenboro would suck the blood out of livestock and killing people’s pets,” she said. “People claim they saw this beast and people from all over the world came to try to find and hunt it. Legends and Lore came to town and put up a marker. (Legends & Lore Marker Program: [email protected]).”

There has even been a television special on the Beast of Bladenboro.

“This is our 18^th year,” Hester said. “It’s just grown and grown and grown. It’s gotten bigger and better every year. I am on the committee and we will wait until after Christmas and then start up again, planning and meeting once a month until next October when we meet more each week.”

“We don’t know what the beast is,” Peterson said. “But everybody came. The New York Times, hunters, and people from all over the world were here. Nobody got it. But, we as a community were looking for something to grow our community, so we created the ‘Beast Festival.’ This is the 17^th year and it has evolved into something so big. I just wish we had a bigger place to hold it. We would love to show our new downtown off with the new buildings and we are getting ready to build some more.”

When Peterson talks about his hometown, he gets a bit overwhelmed with sentiment.

“This is a community that has a lot of churches in it,” Peterson said. “And you would think that a community with a lot of churches wouldn’t get along, but this is different. This is family and its community and we all know each other. We may not all agree with each other on Sunday morning, but come Monday morning we’re family again.”

According to Peterson, there may have been as many as 10-15 thousand people that visited Bladenboro for Beast Fest this year.

According to the Boro website, “In 2008, Boost the Boro, Inc. became the host of an annual community festival known as ‘Beast Fest.’

“Beast Fest is always held on the last weekend of October and there is never a charge for attendance.

Since 2008, Beast Fest has become one of the fastest growing and largest attended weekend Fall festivals in Southeastern North Carolina. Conservative estimates put attendance of the Friday night and all-day Saturday festival to be in the 8,000 range.

“Beast Fest is completely underwritten by both business and personal sponsorships of various levels, allowing us to provide practically all of the events and activities completely free to attendees. All profits we receive from Beast Fest go directly back into our community to support various project initiatives that improve our community for both our residents and our small businesses. We always challenge ourselves to make Beast Fest better than the previous year. Our two main goals: Every event and activity must be in good taste and appropriate for the entire family and it must be safe, welcoming and have an ‘all inclusive’ atmosphere.”

More pictures throughout this issue of the Bladen Journal as well as the Bladen Journal Facebook page.