Autumn Festivals, Kansas-style

Heritage, food, crafts and culture—these fall festivals celebrate it all.

“I can’t; I’m going to Winfield”

This popular bumper sticker clearly identifies a music lover who makes the annual pilgrimage south to the Walnut Valley Festival. In 2005, fourteen thousand campers from across the United States and five other countries came to Winfield to pick, play and peruse bluegrass. This year, at least as many are expected for the annual event.

A haven for bluegrass lovers, Winfield’s stages host professional performers fifteen hours a day. Byron Berline, Tommy Emmanuel, John McCutcheon and dozens more are among the headliners. Eight contests, such as the Walnut Valley Old-time Fiddle Championship and the extremely popular International Finger-style Guitar Championship, award a total of more than ninety thousand dollars over the four-day festival.

Tent-side jammers play all night long.  Stroll through the campsite and find dozens of mini-concerts; circles are always open for another musician to pick up and join in. “Everywhere you go in the camp, there are groups playing and jamming,” says Patsy Penner, a Harvey County resident who has attended thirty-two Walnut Valley festivals.  (She’s only three shy of attending all the years Winfield has been in existence.) Serious players can participate in workshops ranging from banjo to bluegrass vocals all day Wednesday. Registration and fees are required.

Along with all the great music, you’ll find one hundred displays of jewelry, wood items, glass, pottery, soaps, artwork and more, representing artisans from twenty states.

When: September 13-17
How much: Five-day pass, $75 advance;
   $85 at gate
   Th, $35 gate only
   Sa: $30 advance, $35 gate
   Su, $18 gate only
   Children 6-11, $5; under 6, free with
   paying adult
Where: Cowley County Fairgrounds,
   west of Winfield (forty-five miles
   southwest of Wichita)
Contact: wvfest.com, 620.221.3250

Live in Central Park
Marion’s Art in the Park celebrates twenty-seven years on September 16. Artisans from eight states will bring jewelry, clothing, custom woodworking, paintings and other handmade items to Marion’s Central Park, but the bulk of the festival is produced, protected and put on by the town’s citizens. Bratwurst, funnel cakes, smoked chicken and barbeque ribs cooked by local civic clubs sell out fast. Marion’s Boy Scout troops help exhibitors unload, then stay up all night guarding the one-of-a-kind merchandise.

Judy Christensen, festival chair, asks vendors and guests each year for feedback. “They all say, ‘Don’t leave the park,’” she says, estimating that twenty years have passed since the festival outgrew a senior center and moved to the park.

The festival committee has a policy that only allows high-quality handmade wares. “We try to be sticklers about that,” Christensen says. Getting there is easy. Shuttles run from 8 am to 6 pm the day of the festival, transporting guests every twelve minutes from the parking lot to the park.

When: 9 am-5 pm,  September. 16
How much: Free
Where: Central Park in downtown Marion
   (fifty miles northeast of Wichita)
Contact: 620.382.3425

Arka-WHO-lah?
It’s all in a name. The Arkalalah Festival takes its name from Arkansas City and the Indian word alalah, which means “good times.” The first festival was put together during the Great Depression to raise the spirits of Arkansas City residents.

This year’s weeklong festival, expected to entertain more than thirty thousand, begins  with a chili cook-off on October 21. Wednesday night features a parade of lights. Friday evening boasts a hallmark event—the pageant and coronation of Queen Alalah. Saturday (the 28th) includes old-fashioned street games such as an egg toss and broom push, as well as the Arkalalah Run.

The seventy-fifth annual Arkalalah will also play host to a weeklong craft show. Tour the historic Burford Theatre, undergoing a renovation. Arkalalah is prime time for class reunions, says Margaret Wahlborg, an Arkansas City resident. So whether you’re coming home to reconnect or looking for a new fall tradition, stop by for a week of good times.

When: Oct. 21-28
How much: Free, with admission to some
   events (including the carnival)
Where: Arkansas City (sixty miles
   southeast of Wichita)
Contact: arkcity.org, 620.442.0230

All the Leaves are Brown (and Russet, and Gold…)
Baldwin City’s first Maple Leaf Festival took place in 1958. A Baker University professor decided the third week in October—when the town’s changing leaves were at their height of color—was worth celebrating. Since then, Maple Leaf Festival has grown into a two-day family event that includes more than three hundred exhibitors. Maple Leaf is also home to Kansas’ oldest quilt show, complete with a lecture and workshop. Local groups make pies, pork burgers and much more. BBQ and kettle corn are specialties.

Saturday’s parade begins at 11 am. When the sun goes down, a full carnival lights up the sky. If you’re feeling brave, venture on a “haunted train ride.” On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, ride the nostalgic Tilt-a-Whirl and Ferris Wheel, or test your skills with carnival games.

When: October 20-22
How much: Free; fee for some attractions
Where: Baldwin City (about one hundred
   and fifty miles northeast of Wichita)
Contact: mapleleaffestival.com, Baldwin
   Chamber of Commerce, 785.594.3200

Henry VII Would Be Proud
Damsels, pirates, jousters and knights…these characters venture out to Wichita’s seventh annual Great Plains Renaissance Festival during the last weekend in September to entertain more than nine thousand guests. Munch on turkey drumsticks, roasted corn and almonds, and sip on mead (fermented honey and water) as you stroll through Sedgwick County Park.

This year’s entertainment is turned up a notch. Knights on horseback will joust in a center arena, and a live stage will play host to a pirate battle—complete with a pirate ship. Once again, a local couple has chosen the event as the setting for their wedding. Festival coordinator Richard Cathey says this is the fair’s third nuptial event—wedding parties often dress in full costume, and couples usually open their ceremonies to the public.

If your sword, crystal or armor supply is running low, never fear. More than eighty vendors will bring these as well as coats of arms, leather wares and art. There’s something for everyone: camel rides, costume contests and knife- and axe-throwing games.

When: September 30-Oct 1
How much: Adults, $6 advance, $8 gate.
   Children under 12, free advance, $2 gate
Where: Sedgwick County Park
Contact: greatplainsrenfest.com, 253.3392

One-Stop Christmas Shopping
Sunshine Artist magazine rated this arts and crafts fair, now in its thirty-seventh year, among the top one hundred in the country. Experience it yourself, and you’ll see why!
The best part of this one-day blitz is its sheer size. Four hundred of the finest artists and craftspeople from a fifteen-state area are hand-picked to bring in their wares. (One hundred new vendors are chosen each year to keep things fresh.) Bring a backpack and fill up! Get your holiday shopping finished in one fell swoop and be the envy of everyone: choose from handmade jewelry and clothing, personalized children’s toys, original watercolors and photography, handmade soaps and lotions.

More into eating than shopping? Homemade bierocks and zwieback and Hillsboro’s famous smoked sausage celebrate the town’s German heritage. Shuttle buses take guests to and from a parking lot on the south side of town.

When: 9 am-5 pm, September 16
How much: $5 button
Where: Downtown Hillsboro
   (fifty miles north of Wichita)
Contact: hillsboro-kansas.com, 620.947.3506

A ZIP Code North of Newton
Bethel College’s Fall Fest is a showcase for this Mennonite university and North Newton, a small town adjacent to Newton with its own ZIP code. The first night (Thursday), get a “Taste of Newton” in downtown Newton. Three blocks are closed to make way for eighty-plus food vendors.  

On Saturday, Bethel’s Fall Fest will feature an arts and craft fair, a children’s petting zoo, inflatable games, an auction and 5K run. Try verenika (a cottage cheese dumpling) with ham gravy, zwieback and peppernuts (small anise cookies). Bethel is a cultural haven and Fall Fest is a great place to purchase pottery made by students or watch a full-length theatrical production. Three stages will feature musicians and comedic sketches performed in a German dialect.

Fall Fest marks Bethel’s homecoming weekend, so class reunions abound. This year’s football game will be played in the new college stadium.

When: October 5-8
How much: $1-$2 button
Where: North Newton (twenty-five miles
   north of Wichita)
Contact: bethelks.edu, 316.284.5251

Hard-Pressed for Fun?
Since 1982, the American Lung Association of Kansas has entertained, fed and educated thousands of people at Topeka’s Cider Days festival. The big two-day festival features fascinating awareness demonstrations on health and nutrition—and hundreds of gallons of apple cider.

What will you find here? Civil War reenactments and a working steam-powered threshing machine, forgotten crafts like chair caning and soap-making, military bands, tap dancing and Native American chanting. More than two hundred exhibitors will sell handmade crafts ranging from candles to toys to one-of-a-kind pottery. When you get hungry, there’ll be turkey legs, buffalo burgers, Indian tacos and fresh-squeezed lemonade. The namesake of the festival, an 1865 Buckeye cider press, will transform twenty bushels of apples into six hundred gallons of fresh, sweet cider.

Educational demonstrations include a pair of working pig’s lungs attached to a respirator, a robot that quizzes visitors’ lung knowledge, and countless brochures, buttons and balloons.

When: September 23-24
Where: Kansas Expocentre, Topeka
How much: Advance, $5; gate, $6
Contact: kslung.org, 785.272.9290

Where Else Can You Watch a Man in a Skirt  Throw a Telephone Pole?
Get out your tartan and dust off your pipes for McPherson’s two-day Scottish Festival, a celebration of all things Caledonian (and Irish!). See kilted athletes compete by tossing the huge caber (which looks like a telephone pole), flinging a Scottish hammer, or stone, and participating in other strength and endurance events. Watch costumed Highland dancers compete in traditional high-stepping dances.

No Scottish festival would be complete without bagpipes—and McPherson’s has a full schedule of pipes and drums competitions. More entertainment is provided with “live steel” performances—featuring real swords and little armor. Animal lovers will enjoy the sheep dog demonstrations, where they can watch small collies round and lead flocks on the field.

Whether it’s Celtic crosses, tartan ties, Aran sweaters, kilts or clan genealogy info you’re seeking, you’ll find it at McPherson. Is there a Campbell, Fraser, Hunter, Lindsay, Robertson or Stewart in your family tree? (Remember: names beginning with “Mac” are Scottish; ones that start with “Mc” are Irish.) Stop by the clan tent. You just might run into a cousin you never knew you had!

When: September 23-24
Where: McPherson (fifty minutes
   north of Wichita)
How much: Adults, $7-$16; children,
   $1-$2 for admission. Adults, $6-$8;
   children, $4-$6 for some events.
Contact: macfestival.org, 800.324.8022