The West Side Nut Club Fall Festival is in the running to be named the best in the country!

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West Side Nut Club Fall Festival

The West Side Nut Club Fall Festival is an Evansville tradition dating back more than 100 years.  According to the West Side Nut Club, the very first Fall Festival wasn't even a week-long event, it was a one-night event billed as a Halloween Carnival.

The first West Side Nut Club Fall Festival was billed as a Halloween Night, Halloween Carnival, masked ball and even one Nut Clubber compared it to the Mardi Gras. The event was a one night affair and consisted of a parade of costumed people that started at 8:00 p.m. followed by a Halloween Mask Ball lasting until 11:30. The crowd was estimated at 25,000.

Of course, as they say, the rest is history and the Halloween Carnival eventually became the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival we know and love today. These days the Fall Festival draws in more than 200,000 people annually! The Fall Festival takes place the first full week of October each year, and this year you can enjoy the fun festivities from October 2nd through the 7th.

Vote for the Fall Festival in USA Today's 2023 Readers Choice Awards

USA Today hosts Readers Choice Awards annually, and this year they're looking for readers to vote on the best Fall Festivals across the United States.  Since the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival, literally is called the Fall Festival, it should obviously be everyone's first choice!

According to USA Today they used a panel of experts to narrow it down to 20 fall-themed festivals across the U.S. for readers to vote on.  Among those festivals up for voting is Southern Indiana's own Fall Festival.

Here is what the voting page says about the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival:

The West Side Nut Club Fall Festival attracts more than 200,000 people to Franklin Street each year, making it one of the largest street festivals in the United States. The October event includes free live entertainment, carnival rides, over 130 food booths, talent competitions, and a huge fall parade.

You'll want to vote ASAP though, as the voting ends on Monday, September 4th! Let's see the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival get national attention!  Click here to vote.