At this point in the fall, there is festival after festival after festivals, and they are all kinds of different themes too. The subjects of festivals can be something else (in a good way!) . We have seen topics ranging from festivals celebrating sweet tea to apple butter, pecans, and potatoes, you will be hard-pressed not to find a festival weekend that doesn’t match up with something that may be of personal interest to you. So the question then becomes, should I go? should I not go? The answer to that largely resides with you. It’s not hard to find them with a simple google search. As an example, here is a link that highlights some in Missouri. Some things for you to think about though.
*Budget and Timing
Dependent on where, when and scope, how much you want to budget for may be the biggest question as you ask, “should I or shouldn’t I?”. The size of the festival, in addition to scope, notoriety, and days commitment, may all be aspects that influence the ticket costs related to attending the festival in question. This does not account for things like personal supplies, possibly food for meals/snacks (depending on the type of festival and the vibe it is trying to have), amongst other things like the national brands that may be in attendance, etc.
*Travel Logistics
What are the ins and outs of getting to and from the festival you want to go to? What do room, board, and site access all look like? Are you traveling with a group? Couple? You? Fam? All of these thoughts are all going to run together because they are definitely related to budget and timing, but this “umbrella” if you will, is significantly broader and can be drawn down to some bare bones here as mentioned above.
*What are your interests?
If you are willing to travel a bit, you can almost literally find a festival for anything, really…anything..As you may expect lots of food festivals, wine festivals, music, art, beer, etc. but the deeper exploration you are willing to go, you will find those individual regions of the country dive deep into things that are important to them and the day-to-day life there. The only question is, are those nuances of interest/importance to you?
So where do I go from here?
So the next real question then becomes, what are you willing to do? Festivals can be a great way to celebrate a specific “topic” (for a complete lack of a better word), but dependent on you and what you bring to the table, they may be relaxing, or they may not. Are you a crowd person? Prefer no crowds? Canned schedules and things to do? Create your own schedule? Or do you care?
Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to discourage you in the least from taking part in one, if you choose..we take part in some each year and have an absolute blast. Thinking ahead though, and thinking through your expectations, may set you up for an even better experience.
