Kent, Ohio -
Black Squirrel Festival

Kent State University in Kent, OH holds an annual Black Squirrel Festival every fall on campus in front of the student center. There are small concerts and they sell t-shirts of the event. Mostly it's like an outdoor market, but the City of Kent and the University are both seriously proud of their black squirrels. Several were brought to campus from Canada (the University knows exactly which town and when). They've almost completely taken over the gray squirrel population and are spreading to other towns and cities nearby. I recently sighted one in Pittsburgh, PA, near Schenley Park in the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill, appropriately enough. [Todd Demangone, 06/25/2002]