Banner Elk’s Woolly Worm Festival celebrates the prognostication prowess of the woolly worm. Legend says the color of the 13 fur bands on the woolly bear caterpillar foretell the weather for all 13 weeks of winter. Brown bands mean mild weeks and black bands equal cold, snowy weeks. Because color patterns vary from worm to worm, the Woolly Worm Festival was created in 1978 to conduct a series of worm races to determine which one gets the honor of predicting the winter forecast in the NC High Country. The big winner also receives $1,000. The festival includes live entertainment, crafts, food vendors and more. It coincides with the peak leaf-viewing season in the North Carolina mountains.