If you're ever driving down the road in the early hours of the morning and you see a small, manlike creature peeking out of the woods, don't worry. It's just the albatwitch. Sightings of "Albie" have been reported for years, and there are newspaper accounts going back more than a century of groups searching for the creature, said Chris Vera. Vera, along with Rick Fisher, will celebrate this unique part of Columbia's history at the eighth annual Albatwitch Festival. The event will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9, at Columbia Crossing River Trails Center, 41 Walnut St.

Fisher got the idea for the event after visiting the Mothman Festival in West Virginia. "I came back and said, 'Wouldn't it be neat to have something like this in Columbia?'" he recalled. Vera and Fisher thought the albatwitch, a sort of "baby Bigfoot," would make the perfect subject for a festival.

Each year, the festival has grown, Vera said. The event will feature live music, more than 40 food and artisan vendors, lectures and author visits. Vera will also lead trolley tours that will take groups through town to learn about the albatwitch and Columbia history. Rumor has it that the albatwitch loves apples (his name comes from the phrase "apple snitch"), so trolley riders will also have the opportunity to line up and throw apples into the woods to feed the creature.

In the evening, Vera will offer haunted trolley tours, and he recalled one particularly scary encounter a few years ago. "The trolley stopped, and everyone on the trolley looked out into the dark, and we saw pairs of red eyes staring at us," he said.

Fisher, who is known for his ghost hunting prowess and had his own encounter with the albatwitch a few years ago, will be a lecturer at the festival. He'll be joined by other experts in the field of unexplained events and cryptozoology, the term given to the search for and study of animals whose existence is disputed.

"There have been 11 sightings of the albatwitch within a 5-mile radius of here," Fisher noted, adding that people come up to him year after year at the festival to relate their own sightings. Visitors come to the festival from as far away as Oregon, with many repeat attendees.

Proceeds of the Albatwitch Festival will benefit the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, of which Vera is the director. The society's museum is located at 21 N. Second St.

Vera has his sights set on a plan for the festival's 10th anniversary. "My goal is to have banners on poles up around town so that the whole town can cherish this history," he stated. "This is part of our town's history, and people should take pride in that."

Fisher described the atmosphere of the Albatwitch Festival as a fun, relaxed day. "There really is something for everyone," he said. "If you aren't interested in the lectures, take a trolley ride or check out the vendors or listen to the music or just sit along the river and enjoy the day."

For more information on the Albatwitch Festival, visit https://albatwitchday.com.