Cool festivals in your community?

[Bridget]

Cami's profile about Bonfire Night made me think about local festivals (not that Bonfire Night is a local fest... as of yet I don't know what it is :loser: ) but anyhoo...

Does your state/province/community/region have any fun festivals or fairs? I love hearing about things like that. :)

[EricaW]

We have the Sundance Film Festival here in Utah. It is always an interesting time of year, it's the one time where Utah is somewhat glamorous. :lol:

[Cami]

Well, I'll tell ya about what's going on here. :) November 5 is Guy Fawkes Night, also called Bonfire Night. Four hundred and some years ago, Guy Fawkes and some of his buddies attempted to blow up the House of Parliament. Their plot was discovered and foiled before they could do any damage. People burnt bonfires in celebration, a tradition that continues today, along with fireworks.

I think now it's mostly an excuse to have a party, drink some beers, and do some fireworks. :lol: Last night, DH said that he felt like we were living in a war zone. There were way more fireworks going off in our neighbors' yards than there even are in the US leading up to July 4. I'm sure it'll be worse tonight! And because tonight's the official "night," most of the towns around us have festivals and big fireworks. It's kind of nice because instead of waiting until 10 pm when it's dark in the summer, the fireworks start at 7 pm. :lol:

I was complaining last week because no one here was celebrating Halloween and I feel like this is their payback. Apparently in the past, kids knocked on doors and said, "penny for the guy" and people would give out coins. But they didn't give us candy, we don't give them pennies! :tongue2:

and just as I hit "post", I heard the first firecracker of the night!

[Cami]

Some of my favorite local "fests" in America :lol:

SpamFest: lots of :spam:
GatorFest: the highlight of which is a live gator, dragged in on a cart, and hung by his tail (not killed, I don't think, just put on display).

[Sandy]

Well, this isn't in my community....

but Louisiana is the greatest when it comes to festivals!!! When I lived there, they throw a festival for everything! My favorite was swine fest in.....OMG I am blanking on the name of the town. They do a (phonetic) chush-shawn-de-lay (roast a pig in the ground), drink a lot of abita beer, and listen to zytego music. OMG it was one of the most fun weekends I have ever had!!!

I love louisiana!!!

[Melissa]

We had the National Folk Festival in Richmond this year and it was TERRIFIC! All of us had fun, we listened to many different genres of music, got to make crafts, it was a great time. Oh yeah, we had fried dough. mmmmmmm

[Bev]

Close to me is the:
-LaSalle Strawberry Festival
-Leamington Tomato Festival
-Tecumseh Corn Festival
-John R. Homestead Park in Essex County has many events like Maple Syrup Days, Blueberry Social, Migration Festival (which has to do with migrating birds/butterflies, not people as I originally thought. :screwy: ), Christmas in the Country.

There is also a thing called Art in the Park which the Rotary Club sponsors and a ton of artists come and sell their art under 'tents' in a big park. Pottery, painting, clothes, iron work, quiliting all sorts of stuff. That's a good one for Moms, not so much for Dads and kids. :)

[Lynn]

We have a Festival of the Arts the first week of June. We always went as kids and we still go every year. Good music, good people watching, good dancing, good events for kids and best of all, good FOOD! The food booths are mostly ethnic and it's all amazing. :lick:

Pulaski Days are big on this side of town. The Polish halls open up to the public for drinking, food, music and dancing. It's an event. :toast:

[Lynn]

-Leamington Tomato Festival
My mom had emergency gall bladder surgery in Leamington. :lol: (not laughing that she had surgery, but to you Leamington = Tomatos. To me Leamington = my mom's gall bladder removal)

[Cami]

Pulaski Days are big on this side of town. The Polish halls open up to the public for drinking, food, music and dancing. It's an event. :toast:


Pulaski Day is a holiday in Chicago. :nod: A bank/government office kind of holiday.

[Girlo]

We have Viking Fest in May! :) Our town was founded and settled by Norwegians, so it's a tribute to the town's heritage. We have a carnival, parade, royalty, and a lutefisk-eating contest.

Last year, our Viking Fest queen was a black girl, and there were a lot of emails (from outside Poulsbo, btw) saying that how dare we elect a black queen for a Scandinavian festival. :jack: As a result, the whole town came out to show their full support for our deserving queen. :) Made me proud that my homogenous little town is showing some true diversity spirit.....

[stass]

We have a giant art fair in July
http://www.artfair.org/
http://annarbor.org/events/artfairs.asp

[Clare]

We have:

The Perth Royal Show - Big fair with rides,shows, vegetable competitions (biggest carrot and such :lol: ) and animal judgings.

Autumn River Festival - rides and stalls.

Belmont City Fair - rides, stalls and local performances.

[schwanda]

They just had Fells Point Festival where i live in Baltimore. I missed it because I was at a medical conference in Atlanta (I know you are ALL jealous, admit it!) but my parents were here with the kids and they had a blast! They have several little festivals in my neighborhood in Baltimore.
In the little town where we live in NY they have a great street fair every fall. It's not on the same scale as some of the other things mentioned but we always enjoy it. Obviously, in NYC there are tons and tons of events most of which create "confusion and delay" (to quote Thomas the Train). We always hated NYC events when we lived in the city!!!

Amanda

[schwanda]

Oh, and we've been to the Maryland State Fair for the last 2 years. Really nice for the kids!!!

Amanda

[Bev]

I forgot about the food festivals! :duh:

Carrousel by the River and Festival of Nations. And other assorted random things down on the riverfront.

Lynn! :lol: Sorry you have bad memories of Leamington. :hug99:

[Karri]

Well, we have "The World's Largest Music Festival" every summer (aka, Summerfest). That counts for something, doesn't it? We're dubbed the City of Festivals, so all summer long, we have Festivals every weekend. In their correct sequence:
Riversplash, Pridefest, Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Polish Fest, Bastille Days, Festa Italiana, German Fest, African World Festival, State Fair, Arab World Fest, Irish Fest, Mexican Fiesta, & Indian Summer. Then there's a winter one....I think its called Winter Janboree or something. I could go on.....lots of fun stuff !

[Hilary]

The town just down the interstate has Flaming Gorge Days, but we haven't been yet. It sounds like fun. (Flaming Gorge is a big lake.)

[Cami]

In Cincinnati, we have a Goetta Fest, a lame little festival where they sell lots of goetta.

We also have a nice Tall Stacks festival every 4? years where all these steamboats dock in the city and you can tour them.

And there's Taste of Cincinnati, similar to what other cities have. And an Octoberfest, also like other cities. Cincinnati has a big German population so they think it's extra special.

The little town I grew up in was mentioned in the Cincy paper this week because my elementary school's annual "Santa House" (Christmas festival) is starting soon. Big news. :lol:

[stass]

Karri's post reminded me of

http://www.annarborsummerfestival.org/