INDIANAPOLIS — Whether you consider yourself a good witch or a bad witch, you won’t want to miss your chance to participate in the annual Cackling Contest hosted by the Black Hats Society of Historic Irvington.
“We're going to have a contest of muggles and professional witches to see who has the best cackle,” Kate Bathon-Shufeld said.
Bathon-Shufeld recently stopped by WRTV, alongside fellow witch and reigning cackling queen Nancy Lynch, to talk about their group and the work they do in the community.
“In 2016, someone posted on the Irvington Facebook page that they thought that we should do what German witches do,” Lynch said.
The German witch dance seemed like a perfect fit for Irvington.
“I thought, ‘I want to do that, but I don't want to run it,’” Lynch said.
The Irvington witches would conjure up a flash dance for the community.
“It became such a phenomenon that it was like we were The Beatles,” Lynch said.
Since then, the Black Hats have become a public charity that regularly raises funds for various causes throughout the community. The group will hold its annual Cackling Contents on October 26.
But what makes a great cackle?
“In my case, I have to kind of wind up,” Lynch said. “And then, you kind of do a big scream to start, and then you kind of laugh at the end of it.”
Watch the video above to see WRTV’s Marc Mullins give his best cackle. Click here if you’d like to learn more about the Black Hats Society of Historic Irvington.
