The West Side Nut Club Fall Festival has once again garnered national attention for being among the best festivals in the fall.

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!  It's hard to ignore the massive impact this festival has on our community, and it's getting national attention once again, as it's been nominated for a USA Today Readers' Choice Award.

Vote for the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival for USA Today's Best Fall Festival

USA Today often hosts online polls for Readers' Choice Awards highlighting the best of the best across the country.  Once again this year, they are hosting voting for the best fall festivals in the nation.  Our very own West Side Nut Club Fall Festival has once again been nominated among 20 festivals from across the country to be in the running.

According to USA Today, these festivals were nominated by an expert panel. Here is why the Fall Festival was nominated for this vote:

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.

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You can vote once daily until September 9th for the Fall Festival to help put Evansville in first place.  If you want to cast your vote, you can do so right here!  Let's help the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival make 1st place this year!