Three of the weekend’s biggest festivals offer a variety of fun from apple-pie-eating contests to pumpkin-carving to a crafts show to wagon rides at a working farm.
* Spend an afternoon at the Chattanooga Nature Center Saturday or Sunday at the Festival of the Jack-o’-Lanterns.
According to Tina Crawford, director of marketing, there will be a petting zoo, horse rides, hayrides, children’s costume contest, animal presentations, preschoolers Kiddie Korner, outdoor movie and s’mores cooked over a bonfire.
New this year is the opportunity to canoe Lookout Creek with a CNC naturalist. Crawford said she strongly suggests calling ahead to reserve a seat. Canoeing is not included in gate admission; the additional fee is $15 for ages 12 and older, $7 for ages 4-11, with a $2 discount for CNC members.
Canoe trips will take place from 3 to 4 and 6 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, and at 1 and 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Crawford said there will be a variety of food vendors on-site, but families are invited to bring their own picnics. BYO also applies to pumpkins. Families may bring their own pumpkin to carve or purchase one at the festival for $5.
Kids are invited to get in the Halloween spirit by coming in costume. A children’s costume contest will be held at 4 p.m. each day with two age divisions: up to age 7 and age 8 and older.
“At dusk, the games, inflatables and horse rides will shut down and the focus will turn to the outdoor movie and live entertainment,” said Crawford.
Bring cameras. Plenty of photo-ops abound, from the costume contest to the Lighting of the Jack-o’-Lanterns, when all the carved pumpkins are lit and placed along the Blue Heron Boardwalk.
n The 34th Ketner’s Mill Country Fair is this weekend. A trip to the Sequatchie Valley to Ketner’s is like stepping back in time. Visitors can tour the mill, see sugar cane squeezed and cooked into molasses, take hayrides or just enjoy the simplicity of skipping rocks across the millstream. Not to mention there’s more than 100 food and craft vendors.
* The Cleveland Apple Festival offers children’s pageants, arts and crafts vendors and live music, but the festival highlight is Sunday’s apple-pie-eating contest.
Anyone with a hearty appetite can chow down, but you have to register and sign a release form at the table in front of the information gazebo by 1:45 p.m. Sunday. There are children’s and teen/adult categories. The contest starts at 2 p.m. Winners will receive dinner for two at Applebee’s.
FESTIVALS THIS WEEKEND
* Alabama Gourd Festival: Cullman Civic Center, 504 Fifth St., Cullman, Ala., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday (all times Central), $3 ages 13 and older, all crafts made of gourds. www.ala bamagourdsociety.org.
* Cleveland Apple Festival: Downtown Cleveland, Tenn., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday, $4 adults, $3 senior adults and children 3-12; free Kids Zone for ages 12 and under, apple contests and crafters. clevelandapple festival.org.
* Festival of the Jack-o’-Lanterns: Chattanooga Nature Center, 2-9 p.m. Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday, $12 adults, $10 children, $2 discount for CNC members, additional charge for canoeing and horse rides. 821-1160.
* Frontier Day: New Echota Historic Site, 1211 Chatsworth Highway NE, Calhoun, Ga., 10 a.m.-4 p.m., $5 adults, $3.50 children, tour historic buildings, view history demonstrations. 706-624-1321.
* Georgia Apple Festival: Ellijay Lions Club fairgrounds, 1729 S. Main St., Ellijay, Ga., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, $5 ages 11 and up, $2 parking, more than 300 crafters. georgiaapple festival.org.
* Ketner’s Mill Country Arts Fair: Ketner’s Mill, between state highways 27 and 28 near Whitwell, Tenn., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sunday (all times Eastern), $5, more than 100 crafters. 267-5702.
* Mentone Colorfest: Mentone Brow Park, Mentone, Ala., 9 a.m.-dusk Saturday and Sunday; 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday New Hope Quartet performs, 7 p.m. Saturday Lon Eldridge and the Delta Blues play at Mentone Inn pavilion (all times Central), $10. 256-634-4041.
* Webb School Arts and Crafts Show: Webb School campus, Bell Buckle,Tenn., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday (all times Central), free admission, $5 parking, more than 500 craftsmen expected. 931-389-9663.