A hidden gem in a small Eastern North Carolina town is returning Saturday

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Plymouth is hosting its 9th annual NC Black Bear Festival.

“It’s an exciting time, a tremendous amount of fun,” says Riverview Cafe Owner, Lou Manring.

The festival includes over 40 different activities on land, water, and in the air.

“Some of the activities are bear themed. We do wild bear tours, we have the black bear theatre, we have the state black bear biologist coming to do a lecture, we have a can you outrun a bear race. We’re going to be launching 300 plush bears for the kids for free. We’ve got lazy river tubing, free pontoon boat rides, kayak rentals. Hot air balloon rides, a flight formation team, stunt pilots, and the army golden knights elite sky diving team. It’s just on and on and on,” says NC Black Bear Festival Founder and Co-Director, Tom Harrison.

Local businesses also benefit from the fun and educational event.

“This festival probably brings in four to five days’ worth of business for us in a four-to-six-hour period. It is controlled chaos at its best but it’s a lot of fun and at the end of the day, we’re all tired but smiling,” said Manring.

The fun time also brings people together to enjoy getting to see people experience what Plymouth has to offer.

Harrison says, “For me, it’s gratifying to see the amount of support both locally in terms of volunteers and the people who come out to help us, and the number of people that come.”

“It brings so many people into downtown Plymouth and seeing what we’ve got here on the river,” Manring said.

For more information on the event, visit the NC Black Bear Festival website.

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