Missouri Town 1855 Fall Festival

Ah…fall.  There’s nothing like the crisp weather, freshly picked pumpkins, and watching the changing leaves.  One of my favorite fall traditions is visiting the 1855 Missouri Town Fall Festival.

     Missouri Town is open year round, but my favorite time to visit is during their annual Fall Festival. The 1855 Missouri Town Fall Festival is Saturday, October 6, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Sunday, October 7, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.  To get more information on this event, visit: http://www.jacksongov.org/content/7894/7898/default.aspx#october.

     When I go to the yearly Festival, the first thing that greets my attention is the mingling smell of the smokey campfires.  As you walk past the fiddlers and clog dancers, you come to the food corral, where you can order long, curly French fries, apple fritters, buffalo burgers, fresh cobblers, hotdogs, lemonade, and the like.

     The next stop is admiring the Indian teepees, fingering the jewelry for sale, gazing at real furs, and watching the woodsman slice his axe through the logs--old-fashioned style.  As a matter of a fact, throughout the Festival you have many chances to examine and/or purchase many different kinds of arts, crafts, and post-colonial trinkets.

     After you’ve finished your share of “eye candy” take a pleasant walk over to the numerous booths, where you can watch people make hot apple cider (and then sample some yourself!), see weavers do what they do best, and enjoy fresh-spun cotton candy, to name a few.

     I recommend heading to the Children’s Corner next, to practice stilt walking, hoop-and-stick, and archery.

     You can even go inside 1855 house replicas, such as a church or school.  Inside the buildings, you can enjoy looking at handmade quilts, antique furniture, dresses, and other old-time fashions.

     Next, take a ride in a horse-drawn wagon, or check out my favorite attraction: the cake walk.  Just walk around the hay bales while the music plays, and when it stops, take a seat.  If your hay bale seat number matches the one drawn, you get a free cake!  It only costs 50¢ to play!

     One of the best parts about this event is that all the people that help put this together are all dressed in authentic 1855 antebellum costumes!  In fact, many people that come to this event (including me) also wear old-time clothes, so feel free to “deck out” for this event!

     Once you’ve taken in all the fall fun you can get, say good-bye to Missouri Town by purchasing a bag of kettle corn to crunch with your family on the way home.

Anny Hiestand, Teen Blogger