The Sopchoppy Worm Grunting Festival celebrates this rare art and unique slice of backwoods Florida culture annually on the second Saturday in April.
Most visitors to Florida do not realize that beyond the beaches and theme parks, the Sunshine State has a rural culture all its own.
Local culture is often reflected in the hundreds of annual events hosted statewide throughout the year. Sopchoppy (pop. 500) is located in the Big Bend region of Florida, between the peninsula and the panhandle. It is about 35 miles south of Tallahassee and only a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Sopchoppy is home to the Worm Gruntin’ Festival, sponsored by the Sopchoppy Preservation and Improvement Association. This event, celebrated annually on the second Saturday in April, began in 2000 and has grown in popularity over the years. Worm grunting, also known as worm charming, worm fiddling, worm snoring, or worm rooping is a method of driving earthworms to the surface of the earth so they can easily be collected as live bait for fishing. Although the technique has been practiced for generations in the area, it is not unique to the Florida backwoods. Harvesters in other parts of the globe practice the art, and competitive events are held in distant locations such as Texas, Canada, and England.
