The National Hollerin' Contest was an annual competition held in

Spivey's Corner, North Carolina Spivey's Corner ( ) is a census-designated place located in Sampson County, North Carolina, United States, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 13 and U.S. Highway 421. At the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 576. From 1969 to 2015 ...

. It began in 1969, continuing until 2015. The contest, formerly held on the third Saturday in June, was inaugurated to revive the almost-lost art of " hollerin'", a sophisticated vocal tradition that served as a means of long-distance communication between individuals as well as an amusing form of entertainment, before the widespread adoption of the telephone. The proceeds from the event were, and continue to be, donated to the Spivey's Corner Volunteer Fire Department. Contestants from the contest have appeared on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'', ''

The Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production comp ...

'', and ''

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''. In 2013, the National Hollerin' Contest became part of the Hollerin' Heritage Festival. The festival was held annually on the second Saturday in September on the property of the Spivey's Corner Volunteer Fire Department. The 2016 Hollerin' contest was cancelled after 47 years. A man named Robby Goodman, a former junior winner of the Hollerin' Contest, took the cancelled event and turned it into something new to continue the tradition. It was then known as the World Wide Hollerin' Festival and was held on October 8, 2016 at Paradise Acres in

Hope Mills, North Carolina Hope Mills is a town in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census, its population was 15,176. History Chartered in 1891, Hope Mills can trace its beginning back to 1766, when due to the ...

. This was the first and only World Wide Hollerin’ Festival, as it would not be continued the following year.

Notes

External links

* National Hollerin'Contest
The National Hollerin' Contest Official Website
* ibiblio

* ibiblio

(with audio examples) * NPR report
Audio Postcard: The National Hollerin' Contest
(links to audio report) * Catawba College
The Almost Lost Folk Art of Spivey’s Corner Hollerin’
* National Hollerin'Contest

Competitions in the United States {{US-festival-stub