If a worm has black strips, that means snow. The worm that gets up the string fastest predicts the winter season based on its colors. Each stripe representing the weather that week. It's an old celebrated folklore in the mountains that turned into a festival here in the 1970s when Jim Mortan was preparing a winter issue of a magazine and found the woolly worms.Īs the folklore goes, there are 13 body segments on a woolly worm and 13 weeks of winter. She was hoping her worm won, because her worm didn't have too much black. 'I blowed on it real hard,' Goforth said. Goforth is in fourth grade and says she practiced racing her worm at home to get ready for the big day. This year's winner at Riverside Elementary was Kenzie Goforth. It's a tradition that has been going on there for years. Their worms raced up the string for a chance to be the winner of the school. Students from Riverside Elementary School spent their day practicing Thursday. It's a festival known countrywide, but locals also take time to prepare for the race. The woolly worm is said to predict the high country's winter weather Students practiced racing in school to get ready for the big event The Woolly Worm Festival was back in Avery County this weekend

People headed in to race their worms up string.

The Woolly Worm Festival was back for its 45th year. The race was on in Avery County this weekend.

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