After 6 straight weeks of attending festivals across our county, it was only fitting that the weather on the last weekend of Fall events in Boone County would be this nice.
A brilliant sunny sky and cool temps greeted the early morning artists setting up their booths at the 1st annual Autumn Artscape in Zionsville. Across the way the smells of chili cooking came from the Friendly Tavern parking lot as contenders in the 15th annual Brick Street Chili Cook-Off prepared their special chili recipes in hopes of winning a prize.
The Chili Cook Off tasting began at noon with hundreds of chili lovers tasting the fare and voting for their favorite. 2 hours later the winning entry, Chili Jac, was awarded “Chili of the Year” by the judges. The big perk to this award is having your winning chili on the Friendly Tavern menu throughout the coming year.
Congrats to Scott Barnes and his Friendly Tavern crew for, once again, putting on an event that’s become the last hurrah for Fall in Zionsville.
The new Autumn Artscape event, sponsored by the Zionsville Chamber, featured a wide variety of artists – from metal sculptures to fantastic glassware creations. Situated on 3 side streets, the Artscape set-up made it easy for folks to stroll the booths on this beautiful Fall Saturday. The different live music – classical, folk and jazz – added a nice aural touch to the event.
With outdoor festivals over for the Fall, it’s time to get spooky with Halloween themed happenings in October.
If you’re looking for the scariest hayride in Boone County, get thee to KD Stables for their Haunted Barn and Haunted Hayride events every weekend evening in October. Located just east of Jamestown in southwestern Boone County, over 20 actors try their spooky best to scare you either on the hayride or as you make your way through the haunted barn. For more information on this great family fun event – CLICK HERE
Zionsville’s annual Ghost Walk consists of a scary tour of houses and other structures in the Village where you meet some of the spirits from Zionsville’s spooky past. Sponsored by the Sullivan/Munce Cultural Center, the Ghost Walk is held on October 16 & 17. For more info on this spine tingling tour – CLICK HERE
2009 Fall Tourism Event Recognition
After 8 festivals and events in 6 weeks, there are some festival features and special events I want to be sure and recognize.
Best Overall Festival – while the Festival of the Turning Leaves has grown by leaps and bounds, thanks to their industrious event committee, and the Back to the Fifties festival always holds the best classic car event in Boone County, the Zionsville Lions Club Fall Festival continues to up the ante with more events, more booths, more food and more fun. Whether it was the free concert by the Marlins or the flying disc dog show in the Pet Pavilion, the Fall Festival truly has something for everyone to enjoy, with more every year.
Best Signature Dinner – I enjoyed the Lions Club Pork BBQ in Thorntown, the pork tenderloins at Back to the Fifties and the Friendly burgers at Zionsville, but nothing was as well prepared, fresh and tasty as my trip to Hog Heaven at the Advance Labor Day Festival. The Hog Heaven crew put out a generous helping of pulled pork that was cooking right there on a massive grill. Truly delicious.
Best Live Music – The Beatles cover band was surprisingly good in Lebanon and you can’t beat the Marlins at the Fall Festival for a great show, but there was something about the Honky Tonk Attitude that fit the Advance Labor Day Festival perfectly. The boys in the band were all fine musicians with a crowd pleasing personality and lots of country favorites played all afternoon long.
Best Festival Set-up – There’s something neat about driving into Thorntown and seeing Main Street filled with booths and festival fun. This year’s Festival of the Turning Leaves was well organized and offered one of the biggest food court areas of any Boone County Festival. Their parade also featured classic tractors, free bags of Fritos tossed by the tiger mascot and lots of unique parade entries.
Best Featured Event – I’m a lover of classic cars and the annual Back to the Fifties Festival in Lebanon featured a beautiful array of rolling metal from the ’20s to the ’60s. A lovingly restored 1952 Ford Pickup was my personal favorite with its wood bed and black cherry red paint job. The cars were displayed on side street parking lots, which allowed for plenty of up close ogling and chats with the proud car owners. A really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Best Festival Food you won’t eat again until next year – I admit that one thing I look forward to Fall festival season for is elephant ears. Those deep-fried, crispy sweet, covered in powdered sugar, diet busters that drip with guilt in every bite. The nice lady at the elephant ear booth at the Festival of the Turning Leaves told me, “These are the best elephant ears in Indiana”. And she didn’t lie. My ear was perfectly crisp with just the right amount of sugar.
Best Special Festival Event – The VIP Event at the Zionsville Fall Festival invites special needs kids and their parents to a pre-festival party on Friday afternoon with free rides, free dinners and free carnival games. This year over 400 attended with lots of volunteers escorting the kids through the many fun events put together for their enjoyment. A big tip of the hat goes to the Zionsville Lions Club for organizing this now annual event.
Best Overall Food Served – This was a no-brainer as well as a shameless plug for the annual Taste of Boone County at Anson that featured great menu items from our locally owned restaurants, caterers and bakeries. Cheese stuffed tortellinis, BBQ mini sandwiches, chocolate martini mousse and plenty of Donaldson chocolates make the TOBC the yearly gourmet dining event that’s not to be missed.
Best Place to Be in Fall – Our Boone County towns and cities really put on a great Fall festival season. With new attractions, hard working organizers and fairly good weather for each weekend, Boone County offered all kinds of free family fun in 2009 with even better events planned for next year. I congratulate all the festivals for their excellent events.
