Fall Fest bringing spooky fun to downtown area

Published 10:51 am Thursday, October 27, 2016

Downtown Austin is embracing the change of seasons with the fourth annual Vision 2020 Fall Fest.

The festivities will begin at 10 a.m. with trick or treating. Children will be able to go door to door to several businesses to collect treats.

“We’re all super excited for another year of fall fest,” Vision 2020 Destination Downtown Committee Chairwoman Kelsey Ritchie said.

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Also starting at 10 a.m. will be the annual costume contest, which Ritchie called an event everyone involved is looking forward to.

“People in the community love to see the kids and their costumes,” she said. “It is really interesting to see all of the costumes, especially homemade ones, that people come up with.”

The Austin ArtWorks Center will also be busy with arts and crafts starting at 10:30 a.m. Unlike previous years though, there will be no pumpkin decorating and instead will be puppet making.

Bendixen Jewelry will host a haunted hallway event, which took place two years ago but not last year.

Like previous years, there will be a fall-themed photo area for families located near the new Spam Museum. This opportunity is sponsored by SuperFresh Produce, Bakery & Garden Center.

For new business, Sweet Reads, the first Fall Fest since its opening is going to be an exciting event that also allows them to incorporate some themes from a renowned book and movie series.

“I think we’re excited to be a part of it all, excited to provide kids with something fun and unique over Halloween weekend,”  Sweet Reads artist Susan DeVries said. “Our store will be Harry Potter-themed this weekend and we’re excited for the weekend and we think people will really enjoy the things we will be doing.”

To cap off the event, a concert by the Part Time Ex’s with Jonathan Stowell will be at the ArtWorks Center at 7:30 p.m.

“As the daytime events will provide fun for children,” Ritchie said, “the concert will be a nice way for parents and adults to be able to come out and enjoy themselves as well.”

The concert will cost $5 per person at the door.

Vision 2020 Director Greg Siems called Fall Fest a great way to showcase Austin’s downtown to the community.

“One of our main goals is to help make the downtown area a destination point,” he said. “The Fall Fest really exposes our community to how great our downtown is and how great our small businesses are.”

“We want to continue to promote downtown Austin as an inviting and exciting place to all people in our community,” he added.

This event was made possible through the support of downtown businesses and the Hormel Foundation.