Bigfoot believers set to gather at Nicola Valley conference this summer

When Sheldon Quewezance held a conference about the bigfoot legend in Merritt just over a year ago, he wasn’t prepared for the hundreds of people interested in attending. The second annual Nicola Valley Bigfoot Conference is running for two days instead of one this summer with more speakers presenting and more tickets available. “Tickets sold out at the door last year and I had to turn people away,” Quewezance said. “I’m expecting 300 people to attend per day but I have the capacity to accommodate 500 if necessary.” People are coming from around the province to take part in the event, with some speakers coming from the United States to make presentations on a variety of topics surrounding the legend. “We’re covering a wide range of things, with each presenter sharing faces on what they’ve experienced and learned over the years. A broad variety will give people more talking points.” Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, a professor of anthropology at the Idaho State University and author, is one speaker who is coming from the states. “I’m shocked he agreed to come up,” Quewezance said. “He is well known in the sasquatch community, while I’m still small in the bigfoot world.” Quewezance said it’s the only conference of its kind in the BC Interior. “BC and sasquatch go hand in hand but there are not many conferences in the province. We’re bringing people together to talk about a subject everyone loves.” Sasquatch is a mythical large, hairy creature that some people believe exists in the northwestern United States and western Canada, and its name derives from the Salish word se’sxac, which means “wild men,” according to Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sasquatch . Most scientists do not recognize the creature’s existence and its thought to be either a hoax or mistaken for other animals. READ MORE: The last Ironman in Penticton will be held this summer https://infotel.ca/newsitem/penticton-hosts-final-ironman-triathalon/it105613 Sasquatch is a popular character in entertainment including horror films, comedies, books and commercial ads. Quewezance has been fascinated with the idea of looking for bigfoot since he was a kid and joined the sasquatch community in 2017. He searched for sasquatch with a group and started the Nicola Valley Bigfoot Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/nicola-valley-bigfoot-podcast/id1528123392 when the pandemic limited group walks in the woods.  READ MORE: iN PHOTOS: Intense lightning bolts captured during Okanagan storm https://infotel.ca/newsitem/in-photos-intense-lightning-bolts-captured-during-okanagan-storm/it105599 The conference runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10 and Sunday, Aug. 11 at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology in Merritt. There will a lot of sasquatch merchandise including shirts, woodworks and knives, and a concession will be on site. Quewezance is more prepared this year with more tickets available at the door, but he does encourage people to purchase tickets ahead of time https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2nd-annual-nicola-valley-bigfoot-conference-tickets-906376676037 . To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .