By Haddon Libby
The beginning of the fall season is best known for celebrations like Oktoberfest and Halloween. Across the United States, the changing of the seasons brings a host of celebrations.
In Wisconsin this weekend is the Warrens Cranberry Festival. This is the largest cranberry festival in the world, with attendance topping 150,000. Stretching over three miles are 1,200 vendor booths selling everything from antiques to crafts, cheese curds, and cranberry-centric foods.
Down the road in Colonel Harlan Sanders’ hometown of London, Kentucky, is the World Chicken Festival. At this celebration, you’ll find the world’s largest steel skillet used to cook 600 quartered chickens in 300 gallons of oil. The festival includes a wing-eating contest, three stages of music, and a Colonel Sanders look-alike contest.
Waterloo, Nebraska, hosts Junkstock for two weekends ending September and beginning October. Located 20 miles west of Omaha, 250 vendors sell an assortment of vintage items and crafts.
Closer to home is the Avocado Festival in Carpinteria, which draws 100,000 visitors. In addition to music and avocado-centric food, there is a guacamole contest as well as the largest vat of guacamole.
In mid-October, Iowans celebrate the Covered Bridge Festival. You might remember some of these bridges from the Clint Eastwood movie, The Bridges of Madison County. This weekend celebration takes place 40 miles southwest of Des Moines and includes a car show, horseshoe tournament, antique tractor rides, and a parade.
Oregon hosts the Giant Pumpkin Regatta. Farmers provide some of their largest pumpkins to be converted into boats that are used in a river race. You can also participate in pumpkin bowling and pumpkin golf.
Salem, Massachusetts, aka Witch City, spends most of October celebrating its pagan past. Over the course of the month, you will find many costume parties, ghost hunts, and other witch-themed events. There is a reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials, a Zombie Walk, and a Grand Parade.
Hudson Valley, New York, has a Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. More than 7,000 handcrafted pumpkins can be found at Van Cortlandt Manor over a half-mile path. For local lodgings, stay at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel in Tarrytown, named after the Washington Irving book, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The book is set in Tarrytown.
Ketchum, Idaho, starts the month of October with the Trailing of the Sheep Festival. This festival includes wool workshops and many farm-to-table lamb-centric meals. The festival’s main event is a lamb trailing where 1,500 sheep walk down Main Street.
If you are a hot air balloon aficionado, Albuquerque hosts the International Balloon Fiesta, the largest hot air balloon festival in the world. Nearly 1 million people visit this one-week event each year. In addition to the balloons, there is plenty of live music and fireworks, as well as chainsaw carving demonstrations and lots of good food.
If you happen to be in Dallas, the 66-acre Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is a place to visit. Decked out with more than 100,000 pumpkins is the Pumpkin Village that includes Snoopy and the whole Peanuts gang.
Here locally, the second week of October is the 19th annual Joshua Tree Music Festival with performers like the Polyrhythmics, Mario Lalli & The Rubber Snake Charmers, House of Hamsa, and dozens of other up-and-coming performers.
October 24th through 27th is Modernism Week, a celebration of midcentury architecture, art, and the vintage culture of Palm Springs. The Modernism Show features more than 130 art dealers while attendees can tour iconic homes, attend parties, talks, and more.
Haddon Libby is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Drake Investment.
