The city of Issaquah won two national awards for its successful tourism campaign.

National tourism and marketing organization 3CMA recognized the city’s website with the Award of Excellence, and bestowed its prestigious Savvy Award for Promotional Video upon the town for its Legendary Issaquah tourism videos. The Legendary Issaquah campaign, which the city first created in 2014 to attract visitors from near and far, stars a very well-known Washington figure: Sasquatch.

The legend of Sasquatch goes back hundreds of years, to local Native American Tribes and early pioneers alike. The giant, hairy, bear-like creature has always been said to roam the woods of the Cascade Mountains — very close, indeed, to Issaquah.

And in 2014, Sasquatch at last made himself visible to humans in order to experience the delights of Issaquah for himself.

“We’re extremely lucky that Sasquatch left the Issaquah Alps at that point and let us follow him [with a camera],” said Autumn Monahan, assistant to the city administrator. “He was a huge help in making this happen.”

The city made three different videos featuring the monster of the hour sampling all the pursuits tourists can enjoy. In the Legendary Fun video, Sasquatch tries activities that are especially good for kids, such as the Cougar Mountain Zoo, browsing downtown Issaquah’s unique shops, and satisfying his sweet tooth at Boehm’s Candies. In Legendary Culture, Sasquatch tries his paw at painting and glass-blowing, and attends the theatre and art walk. Sasquatch goes back to his outdoorsy roots in Legendary Adventure, showing nature lovers all of the outdoor sport opportunities Issaquah offers, including paragliding, biking, hiking and boating.

Monahan said that the videos “highlight everything great about Issaquah” and show the variety of hobbies available to try.

“Sasquatch is a consistent theme to tie all those things together,” she said.

The city spread the videos through social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #LegendaryIssaquah, and within just 90 days, the promos reached 750,000 people. Monahan said that any business is welcome to use the videos to attract customers to the area. In addition, Sasquatch has appeared in shorter clips for big days like New Year’s, Christmas and Seahawks game days.

Sasquatch does not just explore Issaquah on film; he also attends tourist events in town. He made his debut on the Legendary Issaquah float during Salmon Days 2014. Bigfoot fans had fun taking green screen photos with the hairy guy at the city’s Salmon Days booth and later finding the photos on the city’s Facebook page. Whenever Sasquatch roams the streets of Issaquah, Monahan said that locals and tourists alike love running up to him and taking selfies, then posting those selfies online with the hashtag #LegendaryIssaquah.

“It’s a fun way to interact with the community and keep tourism efforts alive,” Monahan said. “Sasquatch appears for all things tourism-related — it’s what gets him to come out.”

The promos were produced entirely by the city. Monahan especially gives a shout-out to TV coordinator Tim Smith for his production work, communications coordinator Warren Kagarise for promoting the videos online and the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce for giving ideas of what to feature.

“We’re able to connect with folks who may not have heard of Issaquah,” Kagarise said. “In online comments, people said, ‘I have to get there.'”

3CMA, which stands for City-County Community and Marketing Association, helps communities large and small with tourism outreach. The organization called Issaquah’s video “creative and catchy” with a “very fun approach.”

For more information, log onto Facebook or Twitter and visit the #LegendaryIssaquah page.