National Hollerin Contest

If you are not from NC you probably have no idea what the National Hollerin’ Contest is — I know I had no clue.
A friend emailed me about a month ago and asked if we’d be interested in going to the Contest with them. When she asked I assumed it was «pig calling» — like «suuuuuuuuuuuuu-​eeeeeeeeeeeee»! We agreed we’d join in — hey, we will do anything once.
We all piled in the car on Saturday and headed to Spivey’s Corner. Not doing any research on this event, I had no idea where Spivey’s Corner is, and no idea what «Hollerin’» was. We drove and drove and drove some more and finally ended up at our destination. A field behind the local fire house was the X marks the spot for the main event.
We’d opted to only attend the main event — The Conch blowing contest, The Teen Hollerin’ Contest, and the National Hollerin’ Contest — however there were other events going on throughout the day including live music, dunk tanks, and lots of food vendors.
The main event — the Hollerin’- is something that these North Carolinians take very seriously. The event itself is created and continued to help preserve the art of Hollerin’. We learned there are multiple types of hollerin’ including (but not limited to):
Distress Hollerin’ — How you holler when you’ve fallen down and cannot get up
Locator Hollerin’ — How you holler when you are lost or are lookin’ for somebody
Hollerin’ for Your Dog — How you holler when your huntin’ dog has not returned home
Hollerin’ for your Dinner — How you holler when your paw ain’t come home for supper
Amazing Grace Hollerin’ — The all time favorite song of Hollerers. Yes, they actually «Holler» the song.
The highlight of the afternoon was the contestant from Australia who took it upon himself to holler (Tom Green style) about everything on the stage. He hollered about his shirt, his friend, the microphone, the audience, and had to be dragged off the stage.
If you plan to come make sure you bring plenty of cash for snow cones and bottled water. This is located in a big open field and when the sun is a shinin’ it gets HOT! Remember to go online and register early so you can be a contestant — and make sure you practice by going outside and hollerin’ — LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!