Fall Festivals in America's Cool Small Towns
NATIONAL APPLE HARVEST FESTIVAL
Biglerville, PA; October 7 & 8, 14 & 15; $10; appleharvest.com
For 50 years, the National Apple Harvest Festival has been celebrating the sweet, crunchy fall favorite with hands-on arts & crafts, demonstrations, music performances, and, of course, great food stands serving up (take a deep breath…) apple butter, apple cookies, apple bread, apple cotton candy, apple fritters, apple pie, apple dumplings, apple turnovers, apple cakes, apple cider, apple guacamole, apple salsa, apple pizza, and apple pie moonshine. If that’s not enough to satisfy you, take an orchard tour, visit the petting zoo, and see antique cars and vintage steam engine displays. And the whole shebang is in beautiful Biglerville, PA, an easy road trip from Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington, D.C., and just 10 miles from historic Gettysburg, where we love the Federal Pointe Inn, an Ascend Hotel Collection Member, with rooms under $150/night.
SIEGEL’S COTTONWOOD FARM PUMPKIN FESTIVAL
Lockport, IL; September 23 to October 31, $15, ourpumpkinfarm.com
An easy road trip from the Chicago area, Lockport, IL, plays host to this incredible celebration of everyone’s favorite Halloween fruit. Wander a 15-acre corn maze if you dare, explore more than 30 attractions, including Duck Races, Zip Lines, a pick-your-own pumpkin field that Charlie Brown’s friend Linus would certainly approve of, a haunted barn, train rides, a “giant mountain slide,” zombie paintball, and, of course, play areas and pony rides for the little ones. Two major attractions each year are the Pumpkin Weigh-Off and the self-explanatory Pumpkin Drop & Smash (which - if you’re wondering “how high?” and “how big a smash?” - involves a crane). Aloft Bolingbrook, a few miles from town offers rooms for well under $150/night.
VALLEY OF THE MOON VINTAGE FESTIVAL
Sonoma, CA; September 22 to 24; entertainment on the Plaza is free, with food and beverages for sale; valleyofthemoonvintagefestival.com
In California’s wine country, an easy road trip from the San Francisco Bay Area, fall is the time for harvesting the incredible grapes that grow in the renowned vineyards that supply the world with some of its finest wines. And while that may evoke images of pricey bottles, the good news is that the Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival, founded in 1897, throws a party on Sonoma’s historic Plaza that is anything but expensive. Bring a picnic, a blanket, and some cash to try some wine and beer tasting, local foods, and enjoy watching a parade, listening to great music, browsing the work of amazing area artists, and soaking up the atmosphere of a truly cool small town that has retained much of its Spanish Colonial flavor thanks to decades of forward-thinking preservationists, funky boutiques, great restaurants, and, of course, the stylish wine-tasting rooms that line the Plaza. Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn is a bargain at well under $200/night, and if you’re up for a bit of a splurge, the El Dorado Hotel & Kitchen, right on Sonoma’s Plaza, is a beauty any time of year (but they’re already booked solid during the Vintage Festival).