National Hollerin' Contest moved to November

The impending threat of Hurricane Matthew has caused the World Wide Hollerin Festival to reschedule.

Posted 7:54 p.m. Oct 5, 2016 — Updated 7:54 p.m. Oct 5, 2016

HOPE MILLS, N.C. — People will have to wait just a little longer to holler.

Organizers of the first World Wide Hollerin' Festival announced Wednesday that this weekend's event has been postponed to Nov. 5 due to the potential threat from Hurricane Mathew. Paradise Acres in Hope Mills is the site of this festival, which will include music, food and crafts, in addition to a new National Hollerin' Contest.

In June, organizers of Spivey Corner's National Hollerin' Festival and contest announced that the annual event was being suspended.

The National Hollerin' Festival in Spivey's Corner began when radio host Jon Thomas aired recordings of old farm hollers given to him by Spivy’s Corner native Ermon Godwin. According to a press release from the Spivey’s Corner Volunteer Fire Department, which ran the event, many of those who practiced the art of hollerin’ have since passed on.

Organizers said the decision to end the contest came after thinking about what Godwin, who said in his 1993 book that he never wanted the contest to become a joke, would have wanted.

Tickets for the World Wide Hollerin' Festival are $3 per person. Eighty percent of proceeds form the event will be donated to Wags4Tags, an organization that matches trained shelter dogs with veterans suffering from emotional or psychological injuries.

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