Fall is here! You know what that means: gorgeous autumnal festivals. Before we all freeze to death in the oncoming tundra in December, you should check them out in person.
Fall is the perfect time to get out with the family because it’s not to hot and not too cold. Although the leaves are dying, they look gorgeous doing so. Celebrate this year’s harvest with these super fun fall festivals.
1. International Balloon Festival.
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More than 600 hot air balloons fill the skies over a 365-acre park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The balloons mass rise at 7 a.m. each morning, but varies balloon themed events and food keep the festival going all night.
2. Warrens Cranberry Festival.
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Located in the usually sparsely populated Warren, Wisconsin (population 400 people), tens of thousands of people come to “Cranfest” to celebrate the state’s grand tradition of cranberry production.
3. Wine And Chile Fiesta.
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Sante Fe, New Mexico’s finest restaurants and wineries get together to celebrate Sante Fe cuisine, which happens to feature a lot of chiles. Too spicy? Don’t worry, you can wash it all down with the many bottles of wine on hand.
4. Epcot International Food And Wine Festival.
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Featuring 25 global locations around the world, this festival features international cuisine and drinks that are made specially from representatives from each nation. Oh, also it’s in Disney World.
5. Maryland Renaissance Fest.
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This fall festival is located in scenic Crownsville, Maryland (appropriate). It features a recreation of a 16th century English village affectionally named Revel Grove. It is set on a beautiful 25-acre wooded site with 85 acres of free parking. There a ton of wooden craft and blacksmith shops, food booths, five pubs, ten stages for musical entertainment and even a jousting arena. Oh yeah, Ren Fairs aren’t just for nerds.
6. Wellfleet Oysterfest.
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A celebration of New England’s dedication to shellfish, this Massachussetes festival features many many oysters and clams, lobster and seafood chowders and even a Oyster-Shuck-Off if you’re into that kind of thing.
7. German Village Oktoberfest.
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It’s the next best thing to Oktoberfest in Munich. This traditional fall festival takes place in Columbus, Ohio, in the German Village neighborhood. It celebrates everything German. The beer is tasty, the polka is fast, and it’s all efficiently held in one 100,000 square ft. pavilion.
8. Trailing of the Sheep.
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This festival celebrates the return of the herds of sheep back to Sun Valley Idaho, and features a point where the wooly get to proudly walk down Main Street of Ketchum.
9. National Apple Harvest Festival.
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In a town just outside Gettysburg, PA called Ardentsville, Pennsylvanians participate in the grand American tradition of apple picking, which also includes eating a whole bunch of apple related foods like pies and cider.
10. World Championship Punkin’ Chunkin’.
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Down in Nassau, some Delaware weirdos gather together to blast pumpkins out of giant cannons thousands of feet into the air. It’s a good time if you love Delaware and hate pumpkins.
11. Harvest on the Harbor.
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This celebration of Maine’s seafood specialty also features the Maine Lobster Chef of the Year competition, which is pretty self explanatory, but no less delicious.
Get there soon, everyone. Winter is coming.
