BUCKHANNON – The end of September is fast approaching, and that means Buckhannon’s Fall Fest is also almost here.
Fall Fest will take place from Sept. 25 through Sept. 28 with activities and events for the whole family. Mayor David McCauley said the event started as a celebration for Buckhannon’s bicentennial-anniversary three years ago.
“I wasn’t sworn in until May so we couldn’t do it in January when we actually turned 200, so we dedicated the rest of that year, all the way through the Christmas season of celebrating our 200th anniversary,” McCauley said. “In the fall, we didn’t call it Fall Fest – it was the Bicentennial Celebration and we had so much fun doing it that as we get into the spring of 2017, Jerry Arnold, Amby Jenkins and I started having conversation about continuing a fall-like celebration like we had the year before.”
The first day, Wednesday, will see the return of the carnival at Jawbone and the Public Safety Complex lot from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.; the carnival will remain until the end of Fall Fest.
“Kids mostly like the rides, adults the food a little more,” McCauley said. “There will be music in the mix as well – there’s something for everybody. It is builds around family activities.
On Thursday, Sept. 26 the Upshur County Convention and Visitors Bureau has arranged the Buckhannon Walking Dinner Tour. CVB executive director Laura Meadows said this will be the second year they have done the dinner tour.
“We have 30 tickets available, that’s the maximum number because the venues are fairly small,” Meadows said. “A group of people will travel around together in downtown Buckhannon, stopping at four different restaurants to get a great menu of food and really get to know the people in the community and of course, try different restaurants that maybe you don’t go to all the time.”
The tour starts at Miss Piggies at 5 p.m. for the appetizer portion of the tour where people will be offered ribs, deep fried mac ‘n’ cheese balls and a melon, herb and cheese stick with a sweet balsamic vinegar drizzle. The group will go to the Opera House for the entrée, where they will be served roast beef, potatoes, green beans, salad and bread, with bacon wrapped shrimp.
The third stop will be at Fish Hawk Market for dessert and will offer Teresa’s homemade apple dumplings with caramel sauce. The last stop will be at the 3/4 Cafe for a drink of choice and a short film at the Lascaux Micro-Theatre. Tickets are $40 per person and can be purchased at the Upshur County Convention and Visitors Bureau office or online here.
“We thought this would be a perfect time to incorporate this into the fall activities because the weather’s a little cooler and then people can comfortably walk outside and go from place to place, so it just fit perfectly,” Meadows said.
On Friday Sept. 27 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. McCauley said the organizers of Festival Fridays have organized one last Festival Friday to close out the season.
“Friday night will have the last Festival Friday of the year with Ryan Cain and the Ables, which was one of the most popular bands and performs here every year during the regular Festival Friday season,” McCauley said.
Fall Wagon Rides make a return on Sept. 27, starting at 6 to 8 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre and again Friday Sept. 28 from 2 to 8 p.m. and apple cider making will be available at the fire station from 6 to 8 p.m. The Battle of the Bands will also take place Friday Sept. 27 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
On Saturday, Sept. 28, get ready for the 5k9 and 1k Wag and Walk at 9 a.m. at the grassy lot by the Stockert Youth and Community Center. Paws in the Park will also be in the grassy lot by the Stockert Youth and Community Center starting at 10:30 a.m.
“A couple of things I think we’re getting better at is with [WVU Extension Agent] Craig Presar,” McCauley said. “He’s going to arrange for archery and air rifles and then a petting zoo in the Hinkle lot down below Stockert.”
Archery will take place at Jawbone park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the petting zoo will also be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“There’ll be some really cool activities Saturday morning,” McCauley said. “We have a couple of different things going on, we have these hay bales and we’ll throws quarters into the hay bale and we will blow a whistle and the kids can try to find quarters, little things like that.”
The straw bale hunt will take place at Jawbone Park from 10:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
Other events that will take place on Saturday Sept. 28 are s’mores by a campfire at the Stockert Youth and Community Center at 11 a.m., the J.D. Hinkle Terrace dedication in front of City Hall at 12 p.m., a pet show in the grassy lot by the Stockert Youth and Community Center at 1 p.m., the Pet Parade on Main Street sidewalks at 2:30 p.m. and the Car Cruise-in will take place at Lot 3 N. Spring Street at 3 p.m.
Saturday evening will have the Mayor’s welcome and band winners at the Colonial Theatre at 5 to 5:15 p.m., old-time square and folk dancing will happen at the Colonial Theatre at 6 p.m.
