Perhaps no other week in Evansville is as anticipated as the first full week of October, when the West Side Nut Clubโs Fall Festival takes over four blocks of West Franklin Street. Between carnival rides, live entertainment, a king and queen contest, pet parade, a wildly popular half-pot raffle, 130-plus food booths, and nightly amateur hour competitions, the fall festival โ named the best in the nation for the second consecutive year by readers of USA Today โ routinely attracts more than 200,000 people. Here are five reasons not to skip this yearโs event.
Half-Pot Raffle
Introduced in 2019, the Fall Festivalโs half-pot raffle proved an instant smash, raking in $1,228,285. The Nut Clubโs half of the pot is put toward festival costs, organization needs, and charitable donations. At the Nut Clubโs 2024 Founders Day, more than $700,000 โ funded in part by its half-pot take โ was awarded to nonprofits, youth programs and sports, and schools. Even without the half-pot, the Nut Club prioritizes philanthropy: Since being founded in 1911, the Nut Club has awarded more than $9.6 million in community donations.
Fall Festival half-pot sales have inched up each year, with festival-goers spending $1,823,320 on tickets. This year, the Nut Club aims to push half-pot sales over the $2 million mark and got an early start on the process by offering drive-thru ticket sales Oct. 3-6 at Reckitt/Mead Johnsonโs parking lot. Traditional walk-up sales will start Oct. 7 and run through Oct. 12. The winning ticket will be drawn on the festivalโs final day.
Lighthouse Parade
The Fall Festival features several parades marching jubilantly on Franklin Street, but one holds special meaning. Kicking off the festival on the first night, the Lighthouse Parade harkens back to Fall Fests in the 1920s tradition of displaying decorated lighthouses. The practice was revived in 1985 and has remained a festival favorite ever since, drawing around 100 lighthouses for the procession annually. The parade begins at 7 p.m. Monday.
New Menu Items
The biggest reason festival-goers flock to Franklin Street is the food. When crafting their menus, booths vie for a mix of unique and fan-favorite foods to entice customers and earn bragging rights.
New to this yearโs Munchie Map is a section devoted to vegetarian and vegan menus. Foodies seeking lighter fare can order black bean burgers, elote (Mexican street corn), vegan wraps, and more at nearly a dozen booths.
Grippos Galore
How many ways can you enjoy everyone’s favorite potato chips at the Fall Festival? Find them baked into pastry bars by Warrick County Klowns (Booth 96), slathered in a barbecue sauce-drenched sandwich from Salem United Methodist Scouts Pack 335 (Booth 55), and served in classic barbecue chip form by the U.S. Army (Booth 83). Flakes of tangy Grippos coat pronto pups at Evansville Lutheran School (Booth 46) and grilled cheese sandwiches at Perry Heights Middle School PTSA (Booth 20). Scout Pack 335 also offers Grippochos โ Grippos topped with a generous portion of pulled pork, cheese, and barbecue sauce.
Unusual Foods
Fairs and festivals often are testing grounds for food experiments. Embrace adventure by trying these curiously named menu items:
- Zombie Booger: Granted (Booth 1) is not daring you to pick your nose โ or worse. This spooky season-named side dish is a fruit-flavored hard candy crafted by Gayla Cake that can be consumed publicly and guilt free.
- Meatwad: The name of this Youth Resources (Booth 135) food item makes an introduction pretty straightforward. Ground beef spheres are cooked and slathered in Sweet Baby Rayโs barbecue sauce. Order individual wads or pile them into a sandwich, or upgrade to a Meatwad Inferno by adding jalapeรฑos and habanero sauce.
- Moink Ball: Students at Daniel Wertz Elementary School (Booth 10) taste-tested this gluten-free, bacon-wrapped ball of ground sausage and ground beef. They also blended the words “moo” and “oink” to create the treat’s moniker.
- Jack Wagon Burger: The homage to Channel 14 WFIE meteorologist Jeff Lyonsโ 2022 viral on-air quip is clear, but whatโs not is the ingredients. Messages that Evansville Living sent to Evansville Junior Football League (Booth 129) have gone unanswered, so this new menu item comes with a dash of mystery.
ICYMI: Find five important Fall Festival tipsย in the September/October issue.
