Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Oct. 2, 2025.
Coast through the crowds at this year’s West Side Nut Club Fall Festival with these pro tips. And don’t forget your Munchie Map!
Bring Cash
Although the Nut Club accepts debit and credit cards for half-pot ticket purchases, most food booths are cash-only.
Dress the Part
Typical early-October temperatures here hover between 72 during the day and 51 after dark, so we recommend wearing layers you can pile on or peel off. Slip on good shoes, too; it takes a lot of walking to visit all 130-plus food booths!
Visit During Non-Peak Times
What to avoid crowds? Head over from 1 to 4 p.m., between the mealtime crush.
Opt for Paid Parking
Free street parking is catch-it-where-you-can and, often, blocks away. Instead, spend a few dollars on prime parking in neighboring business lots. Why pay? Volunteers guide you straight to an open spot, and the money goes to booster clubs, churches, and nonprofits.
Look Up
Food vendors and carnival rides on the street level are the major attractions, but there’s a surprise if you glance up: Batman and friends have been known to appear atop a West Franklin Street roof after dark.
Bonus Tip: Bus Rides
Don’t feel like fighting traffic? Catch a ride on a city bus. The Metropolitan Evansville Transit System is offering bus rides to the Fall Festival 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Oct. 6-10, for 75 cents per ride. Every half hour, the bus will take passengers at the west side of the C.K. Newsome Community Center, then move to the Civic Center Complex parking lot’s exit along Ninth Street, before stopping near the flagpoles on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Every quarter hour, the bus also visits a temporary bus stop on the corner of West Franklin Street and Wabash Avenue.
WEST SIDE NUT CLUB FALL FESTIVAL
11 a.m.-11 p.m. Oct. 6-11, 2025
West Franklin Street from Wabash to Saint Joseph avenues
