Strange sounds echoed through Geiser-Pollman Park on Saturday, Aug. 12.

Displayed on tables were plaster casts of what appeared to be the tracks of unusually large bare feet.

And racks were laden with T-shirts bearing the visage of a hirsute beast.

The Blue Mountain Bigfoot Fest returned to Baker City, featuring, among other events, a Bigfoot-calling contest, the source of those unusual sounds.

The celebration of the furtive primate that some people believe roams the forests of the Northwest, including parts of Baker County, was the first since 2019.

Organizer Scot Violette estimated that 1,400 people toured the various exhibits and booths at the park.

“We had a lot of people say they enjoyed it, and they want us to bring it back next year,” said Violette, who has been investigating the phenomenon for many years. “We had a great time and we plan on bringing it back next year.”

He estimated that more than half of the attendees were from Idaho.

“Our vendors all said they had a great day,” Violette said.

The festival included a town hall meeting to solicit local reports from people who claim they’ve seen Bigfoot or found what they believe are footprints.

Violette claims both — he has found footprints and taken a blurry photo of what he believes is a Bigfoot.

The town hall yielded reports of footprints found near Mount Ireland, between Sumpter and Granite.

Among the guest presenters at the festival was Michael Freeman. His late father, Paul Freeman, of Walla Walla, Washington, searched for Bigfoot in the northern Blue Mountains, including the area around Tollgate north of Elgin, for many years.

Paul Freeman made a video of what he believed is a Bigfoot in the Blue Mountains in 1992.