Fall is here, and with it comes a variety of great festivals and events across the country.
Marvel at the sight of hundreds of hot air balloons filling the New Mexico sky, enjoy the taste of fine wines in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, or savor the tropical scents at a Hawaiian parade of flowers. Here are some festivals that are worth the trip this fall.
• Okanagan Fall Wine Festival: Located in southern British Columbia, the Okanagan Valley is home to some 65 wineries, which are at their most beautiful in the golden light of autumn. The wineries celebrate the harvest each year with the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival, featuring 10 days of live entertainment, tastings, vineyard tours, educational seminars, and delicious lunches and dinners. With more than 150 events taking place in the city of Kelowna and all across the valley, the festival is designed for visitors to create their own itinerary. Wineries are open during the day for free (or inexpensive) tours and tastings, and in the evenings they serve multi-course dinners paired with award-winning wines. (Dinner prices range from $50 to $180 CAD per person.)
The festival runs from Oct. 2-12, and on weekends will feature special large-scale consumer tastings with dozens of wineries under one roof. Admission to these events is $45 CAD and includes tastings, a souvenir wine glass, and a free taxi back to your home or hotel.
• Oktoberfest in Leavenworth: Celebrate this traditional German event in Leavenworth. Enjoy live music, German food and beer, arts and crafts, a used Bavarian clothing sale, musical groups from Germany and the U.S., and a traditional Oktoberfest celebration. Lots of traditional German entertainment in the Pavilion. Oct. 3-4, 10-11 and 17-18. Also, Christkindlmarkt, Leavenworth’s annual Bavarian style Christmas market, runs Nov. 28–30. It offers craft and food vendor booths, continuous entertainment and lantern decorating for children. Welcoming ceremony and lantern parade Friday and Saturday evenings. Children’s activities are also offered at the Grange Hall.
• Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta: For mesmerizing beauty and sheer grace, there’s nothing like the sight of hundreds of vibrantly colored hot air balloons drifting through the desert sky of New Mexico. It’s all part of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which will take place Oct. 4-12. Events kick off as early as 5:45 a.m. each day with a “dawn patrol,” in which balloons are inflated and launched in a choreographed musical performance. Mass balloon ascensions follow at 7 a.m. many mornings, while evening offerings include fireworks shows and a Balloon Glow, a magical event in which the balloons are lit from within like colorful paper lanterns. Admission is $6 for ages 13 and up, and free for younger children, with a parking fee of $10 per car.
• Aloha Festivals: A two-month-long celebration of traditional Hawaiian culture, the Aloha Festivals encompass more than 100 events on six islands. If you’re visiting Hawaii this fall, there’s probably a festival event going on somewhere near you. Highlights include many musical and cultural offerings. Admission prices vary, and some events are free. In many cases, you can get a discount on admission with the purchase of a $5 Aloha Festivals ribbon; proceeds from ribbon sales support the festival.
• Keene Pumpkin Festival: If you happen to be in New Hampshire for a fall foliage cruise or visiting family, nothing says fall like a pumpkin — or even better, 30,000 pumpkins! That’s what you’ll see at the annual Keene Pumpkin Festival on Oct. 25, when the quintessential New England town of Keene, N.H., will be overflowing with jack-o-lanterns, lining the streets and stacked on huge towers.
Live music, crafts, hayrides, fireworks, a kids costume parade and a pumpkin pie eating contest keep visitors entertained, but the high point of the day is the official jack-o-lantern count — when everyone finds out whether they’ve brought enough pumpkins to break the Guinness World Record for the most jack-o-lanterns lit at one time. Keene held the top spot from 2003 until 2006, when the town’s record was overtaken by a larger festival in Boston. Bring your own jack-o-lantern (or several) and help Keene get back on top this year! Admission is free, but there is a $5 charge for event parking.
• Oranjestad, Aruba: Aruba Music Festival. If you’d happily trade fleeces and foliage for sun and sand, grab your swimsuit and head down to the Southern Caribbean for the annual Aruba Music Festival, scheduled for Oct. 10-11. Performances are held just outside the capital city of Oranjestad and feature a wide variety of musical acts on a secondary stage before the headliners — REO Speedwagon on Friday night and Gloria Estefan on Saturday night — take the main stage. General admission tickets are $50. The festival sells out each year, so we recommend booking in advance at the festival’s Web site.
Federal Way resident Jerry Vaughn is president of World Voyager Vacations. Contact: jvaughn@worldvoyagervacations.com
