Inagural Great Florida Bigfoot Conference to Be Hosted on Saturday July 10
by James Coulter
Bigfoot has been allegedly spotted more than 10,000 times over the past 50 years. With more than 328 sightings, Florida is the third state with the most sightings, as reported by Satellite Internet.
You probably won’t find Sasquatch himself next Saturday, but you will find plenty of Bigfoot researchers and enthusiasts for the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference. The inaugural event will be hosted at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland on Sat. July 10 from 9 AM – 5 PM.
Whether you’re a true believer or not, you’ll have to hear to believe some of the tall tales that will be shared by the guest speakers headlining the event. These speakers include well-known Bigfoot experts Liff Barackman and James “Bobo” Fay, and local experts Stacy Brown, Robert Robinson, and David Sidoti.
The overall event will conclude with a roundtable of the various guest speakers, allowing participants to have their questions answered. Attendees can also submit their own stories of Bigfoot encounters with a chance to share them on stage. And throughout the day, they can scour the many exhibitors and vendors set up at the event.
“We are looking forward to a great day,” said Martin Pippin, event organizer. “We have a good mix of traditional bigfoot researchers as well as more skunk ape researchers from our local group. The ones who are more active will talk about things they found more recently, or tell in detail about their more interesting finds over their careers.”
This will be the first Bigfoot conference to be hosted by GatherUp Events. The event group initially started their first Bigfoot event four years ago with the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Conference in Gatlinburg, TN. They wanted to host an event in Florida, as it’s the third state with the most sightings, Pippin said.
“There was no conference that reached out to the average enthusiast as far as the hardcore Bigfooters, so we started this,” he said. “We wanted it somewhere near the green swamp where a lot of those sightings are held. So we figured Lakeland would be a great spot, being between two cities and two major airports. Easy to get to and close proximity to local sightings.”
Initially, Great Florida Bigfoot Conference was to be hosted in one of the many conference halls at the RP Funding Center. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the event was moved to the Youkey Theater. Nevertheless, the venue still provides plenty of room for their exhibits, vendors, and other event activities.
“We are excited about the initial turnout, and of course, we have two weeks to see if we can completely fill the Youkey Theater,” Pippin said. “The reception has been nice. They [attendees] can expect a great day of anything and everything these speakers have to offers.”
Regardless of whether you believe in creatures with big feet or know for sure that the truth is out there somewhere, the upcoming conference will give attendees something to believe in.
“Suspend your suspicion and skepticism a little bit and come out and listen,” Pippin said. “It is a huge day of friendly people with lively debates. If it is anything like our other events, everyone walks away happy, they tend to enjoy the events tremendously, and they love meeting these guests, especially the big celebrities.”
The Great Florida Bigfoot Conference will be hosted on Sat. July 10 from 9 AM to 5 PM at the RP Funding Center, located at 701 W Lime St, Lakeland, FL 33815. For more information, visit their website at: https://gatherupevents.com/florida-bigfoot-conference/
