Taking the kids: 17 fall festivals we love

It’s fall. Time to celebrate apples, cranberries and pumpkins. Time to appreciate livestock, scarecrows and everything chicken. Explore covered bridges. Raise a stein at a family-friendly Oktoberfest. Commemorate films, storytelling, architecture and regional foods.

Who doesn’t love a fall festival? Typically, they are free, offer all kinds of good eats, entertainment and kid-friendly activities and are a terrific bet for a quick getaway whether for a day or a weekend. (Our 24 Fall Getaways section, put together with our friends at Family Travel Forum and Little Family Adventure also offers plenty of fall getaway ideas.)

Enjoy fall foliage, chase the kids through a corn maze, go apple or pumpkin picking and learn something about regional foods and culture.

Love movies? The nonprofit New Hampshire Film Festival draws more than 10,000 professional filmmakers, screenwriters, film industry experts and film lovers together in Portsmouth Oct. 17 to 20.

Celebrate corn at Sever’s Fall Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota, weekends until Oct. 27 (just 35 miles south of Minneapolis). It boasts one of the country’s original corn mazes along with a corn pit playground, straw sculptures, music and treats like funnel cakes, bratwurst and apples from the farm stand.

The theme of the International Garden Festival in Quebec is the Ecology of Possibility showcasing gardens until Oct. 6 with innovative gardens and interactive activities all imagining the future of gardens.

Calling all foodies to euphoria in Greenville, South Carolina, Sept. 19 to 22, at one of the Southeast’s signature events. The annual four-day festival features exclusive tasting events, intimate musical experiences, cooking demonstrations, and wine seminars, as well as live concerts.

The annual Soul Food Fusion Festival in Natchez, Mississippi, Sept. 20 to 21, celebrates the rich culinary traditions and cultural heritage of soul food. The event features food tastings, cooking demonstrations, live music, workshops, and community activities.

A good bet for empty-nesters or those with grown kids is the Annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, Kentucky, Sept. 13 to 15 attracting thousands to celebrate the history and art of distilling America’s native spirit in the Bourbon Capital of the World.

Another good bet for an adult getaway is the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta Sept. 25 to 29 with more than 60 participating restaurants and 90 winery partners. Take a Sky Railway Wine Tour and celebrate New Mexico Chili, seeing how local chefs create such a diverse array of dishes.

October is Elktober in Estes Park, Colorado, where you’ll see elk frequenting downtown streets and parks. Elk Fest is Sept. 28 to 29, a free festival that includes food, music, Native American traditions, “All About Elk” talks (Estes Park is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park) and bugling contests. Bull elk bugle to advertise their fitness to cow elk and to show off to other bulls. Ready to compete in a bugling contest?

Celebrate sheep herding, a major industry in Idaho in Ketchum, Idaho, Oct. 2 to 6, 2024. During the five-day Trailing of the Sheep Festival bands of sheep are moved from summer to winter pastures. Book ahead for the rancher talks, crafts and food fairs, sheepdog trials and much more. These wooly beasts parading through town are more fun than you ever thought possible.

Doors Open Milwaukee is an annual celebration of Milwaukee's architecture, history and neighborhoods. The event opens more than 100 locations throughout the metro area to tour for free Sept 28 to 29 while there are dozens of Octoberfest celebrations Oct. 4 to 6.

The largest hot air balloon festival in the world is the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct. 5 to 13 with more than 500 balloons lifting off from Balloon Fiesta Park for the 52nd year. See the Morning Glow or the Twilight Twinkle Glow as balloons light up the sky. Powered by the October climate and a phenomenon called the "Albuquerque Box," (a combination of weather patterns and geographic landscape) the box allows balloonists to control and even retrace their adventure, taking off and landing from the same location.

Thousands come to Snowbird, Utah, for the family-friendly Oktoberfest which runs until Oct. 13 on weekends with 50 kinds of beer, schnitzel, strudel, spätzle and pretzels among the offerings with music, polka dancing and all kinds of competitions.

London, Kentucky, is the birthplace of Colonel Harland Sanders and celebrates all things chicken at the World Chicken Festival (Sept. 26 to 29). See chicken fried up in the world’s largest stainless-steel skillet, watch Col. Sanders lookalikes or cluck at the chicken impersonation contest.

It’s all things cranberry in Warrens, Wisconsin, about 110 miles northwest of Madison, with what’s billed as the world’s largest Cranberry Festival (Sept. 27 to 29). Try cranberry funnel cakes, tour a local cranberry marsh, buy local crafts (there are some 1,300 booths) and watch the parade.

Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest town, known as the Storytelling Capital of the World, celebrates the National Storytelling Festival the first weekend in October.

For all things fall, visit Indiana’s largest festival, The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival, Oct. 11 to 20, celebrating the county’s 31 historic covered bridges.

Celebrate all things apples at the National Apple Harvest Festival in Biglerville, Pennsylvania, (Oct. 5 to 6 and Oct. 12 to 13 in Amish country. Taste all varieties of apple treats, browse more than 300 arts ‘n’ crafts vendors, watch chainsaw carvings, and peruse collections of classic cars. In the Midwest, Bayfield Apple Festival in Wisconsin (Oct. 6 to 8) draws people from all over the Midwest to watch apple peeling and pie contests, among the activities.

You may not be able to resist that second piece of apple pie!

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The fourth edition of The Kid’s Guide to New York City and the third edition of The Kid’s Guide to Washington D.C. are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)