Out of the Woods
The Texas State Forest Festival, founded in 1938 and held as a county fair until 1953, is a fall staple in Lufkin. This year’s event features more than 20 rides, live music, a beer garden, and market and food vendors, so there’s something for everyone in the 20,000-plus crowd. A homespun highlight is the annual hushpuppy championship—now in its 48th year—where fried-food fanatics compete to see if their special ingredient causes their iteration of the Southern delicacy to soar to the top of the judges’ list. Attendees can also enjoy an event Paul Bunyan wouldn’t miss: the All-American Lumberjack Show. This 35-year tradition features axe throwing, tree climbing, and log rolling.
Texas State Forest Festival, Sept. 18-22 George H. Henderson Jr. Expo Center, 1200 Ellen Trout Drive, Lufkin 936-634-6644; texasstateforestfestival.com
Arts & Culture
CENTRAL TEXAS
Comfort
Fall Art Festival
Sept. 14
Nearly 30 artists display their works at shops in the historic downtown area and at local wineries. Browse, shop, and support artists selling paintings, ceramics, and jewelry. Historic Downtown Comfort. 830-995-3131; comfort-texas.com
Giddings
Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival
Sept. 13-14
Texas authors come to Giddings with a variety of books—children’s stories, crafts, poetry, Texas cookbooks, historical fiction, mystery, romance, music, gardening, and anything related to Texas. Authors sell their books and take questions. Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center, 276 N. Orange St. 979-542-2716; texaswordwrangler.com
Ingram
Texas Arts and Crafts Fair
Sept. 28-29
The 43rd annual fair has more than 100 artists, musicians, demonstrators, and food vendors. The Limeliters and Kerrville’s Sentimental Orchestra headline the festival, and Doug Baum and his Texas Camel Corps make an appearance, offering living history lessons about the use of camels in Texas and across America in the 19th century. Fairgoers can pet camels and observe items handcrafted from camel hair. Artists at the festival include painters, sculptors, jewelry makers, and woodworkers. Hill Country Arts Foundation, 120 Point Theatre Road S. 830-367-5121; txartsandcraftsfair.com
San Marcos
Mermaid Parade and Faire
Sept. 21
Festivities are part of Mermaid Splash, an annual, multi-event festival celebrating San Marcos’ arts, culture, heritage, and the San Marcos River. Head downtown for the Mermaid Promenade, an eclectic spectacle full of floats, marchers, dancers, and music. Follow the floats to San Marcos Plaza Park for a free community festival of art, live music, food, and fun. Downtown San Marcos/City Park, 111 E. San Antonio St. 512-825-2819; mermaidsocietysmtx.com
San Antonio
Pachanga de Palabras: A Westside Book Festival
Sept. 28
Join Echale Books, a traveling, bookselling popup, for a book festival. There are poets, book and zine vendors (self-published magazines), free workshops and activities for all ages, and live music. Plaza Guadalupe, 1327 Guadalupe St. 210-328-1980
NORTH TEXAS / PANHANDLE
Anson
Party in the Park
Sept. 21
Anson City Park comes alive with local food trucks, a
