AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Avon, Ohio, calls itself the duct tape capital of the world. It's where the Duck - D-U-C-K - brand of duct tape is made. Every summer, the Avon heritage tape festival honors the history and heritage of the city and celebrates the non-traditional uses of the tape. It's our latest stop for offbeat summer festivals.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Hey, everybody. How are you doing today?
ELIZABETH MILLER, BYLINE: I'm Elizabeth Miller reporting from the Duck Tape Festival in Avon, Ohio.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Duct.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Tape.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Duct.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Tape.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Duct.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Tape.
MILLER: We've got Mount Duckmore (ph) right in front of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It's a 10-foot tall copy of Mount Rushmore with over 100 rolls of duct tape. Obviously, you can do some monumental things.
MILLER: We've got an Adirondack chair made out of duct tape - pretty tall.
What are you guys making over here?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: The Russian flag.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: I just got done taping my face.
MILLER: So what do you guys like about using duct tape?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Anything.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: ...Can kill somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: We're doing the duct tape ukulele.
MILLER: Could you tell me a little bit about what you're making?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: You know, I have no idea.
MILLER: We're coming up here on a different piece of duct tape art.
The Big Apple. Excuse me, did you make this?
JEDEDIAH STUPENAGLE: I did.
MILLER: Can you tell me about it?
STUPENAGLE: My name is Jedediah Stupenagle (ph). And I'm a first-year grad student. The apple's been a pretty huge icon in our culture forever, you know, between Johnny Appleseed and Washington State - huge agriculture and then obviously the Big Apple, New York. And so I just wanted to sort of represent the unity. We made the stem and the leaves detachable, so they don't have any height restrictions. It was easier that way.
MILLER: And how tall is this?
STUPENAGLE: With the stem, it's 9 and a half feet.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: We found a good thing to do with the duct tape.
MILLER: Can you explain what you were just doing with it?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: ...Taped our husband's mouths.
MILLER: At the Duck Tape Festival in Avon, Ohio. I'm Elizabeth Miller for NPR News.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Duct.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Tape.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Duct.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Tape.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Duct. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.