California’s Fall Events Celebrate Harvest & Halloween

Fall is a special time of year in the Golden State, especially with California’s mix of harvest festivals and Halloween offerings

Sacramento, California – “As summer comes to an end, many of California’s regions offer spectacular fall displays as the foliage turns from rich greens to the vibrant shades of orange, red and yellow,” said Caroline Beteta, president and chief executive officer of the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC). “Along with the changing leaves come a variety of harvest festivals that celebrate the season, and annual Halloween events and festivities that spook visitors of all ages.”

Pumpkins reign supreme on the picturesque terrain surrounding the charming coastal hamlet of Half Moon Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area Region. Every autumn, devoted pumpkinheads from around the country make the traditional trek to the “World Pumpkin Capital” for the annual Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. This year, the festivities take place October18-19 and include the super-sized Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off, featuring the “Picasso of pumpkin carvers” sculpting and shaping a 1,000-pound pumpkin, as well as live entertainment and harvest-inspired crafts. Thousands of visitors are expected at the 27th Annual Harvest Wine Celebration, organized by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association, from August 31 to September 1 for its music, food, art and wine. The event has been designated as one of the Top 100 Events in North America for 2008 by the American Bus Association, only one of three events in California to receive this accolade. Hundreds of artisans from around the country will exhibit more than 24,000 American handmade items, including jewelry, toys and gourmet food, at the San Jose Harvest Festival, November 28-30. Ghoulish and giddy behaviors are part of the fun as kids in costumes trick–or-treat throughout PIER 39’s Pumpkin Pandemonium October 26 in San Francisco and enjoy pumpkin carving demonstrations, face painting and photos with frightful characters.

Visitors to the Los Angeles County Region can join 300,000 of their closest friends in celebrating the Halloween Carnaval 2008 on October 31 in West

Hollywood. Dubbed the largest Halloween street party in the world, the annual event on Santa Monica Boulevard is free, and travelers can expect to see the most eccentric and imaginative costumes around. Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City pulls out all the spooky stops with its Halloween Horror Nights every Friday and Saturday and some Sundays in October. Guests ride the Terror Tram, where they can disembark and walk among the historic sets of the Universal backlot that incorporate many Hollywood landmarks, such as Psycho House, Bates Motel and the “War of the Worlds” airplane crash disaster scene. Universal has also partnered with New Line Cinema to bring to life Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Leatherface from the horror film franchises Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In Long Beach, the Aquarium of the Pacific offers a spooktacular educational Halloween event for the whole family on October 25-26 with a costume contest, magic shows, kooky crafts, creepy coloring contest and eerie animals in the Great Hall.

Celebrating agricultural tradition in Kerman, the 64th Annual Kerman Harvest Festival, held September 11-14 in the Central Valley Region, has a lively county fair atmosphere with food booths, vendors, carnival rides, entertainment and agricultural exhibits, along with a harvest parade that includes farm equipment and equestrian teams. The tradition of hot air balloons floating across the valley skies continues on September 20 at the 34th Annual ClovisFest in Clovis, along with a car show and live entertainment. Downtown Fairfield is home to the family friendly 8th Annual Candy Festival on October 11, which celebrates the cluster of candy companies in Fairfield. The centerpiece of the festival is Candyland, where as many as 30 candy companies offer samples and sell delicious treats. Visitors will also find performances from barbershop quartets, clowns and jugglers.

They are stomping grapes this fall in the Gold Country Region at the 2008 Calaveras Grape Stomp, scheduled for October 4 in Murphys. Produced by the Calaveras Winegrape Alliance, the event draws large crowds as scores of teams stomp barrels filled with 25 pounds of grapes. The Gold Rush Street Fair on Main Street, also part of the event, hosts 100 vendors that offer knick-knacks, food and arts. Nearby Angels Camp also pays tribute to the grape at the Taste of Calaveras, October 12, which features vintages from Calaveras wineries and gourmet foods from Calaveras restaurants. The emphasis is on traditional American crafts at the Columbia State Historic Park Harvest “Festifall” in Columbia, October 11-12, where historically accurate methods for rope making, weaving, candle dipping and other pioneer crafts are highlighted. In Suisun City, the Western Railroad Museum takes visitors on scenic 5-mile rides via the Pumpkin Patch Trains, every weekend from October 11-26, to Gum Grove Station with its pumpkin patch, hay bales, rides and gentle animals to pet.

Located in the Orange Country Region, Disneyland Resort in Anaheim celebrates fall with HalloweenTime, beginning September 26 and running through Halloween night. Both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure offer spooktacular entertainment, whimsical décor, a variety of festive foods and a lively mix of Disney characters in Halloween costumes. Also returning for the Halloween season is the “Haunted Mansion Holiday,” inspired by the innovative animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas, where Jack Skellington and his friends create holiday mayhem at the Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Square. Mickey’s Trick-or-Treat Party, a private costume party with Disney characters, lets little ones trick-or-treat through Disney’s California Adventure park. Tickets go on sale August 1.

San Luis Obispo County, part of the Central Coast Region, is home to three FallFest Harvest events. The 71st Annual Arroyo Grande Valley Harvest, September 26-27, celebrates “Planting the Seeds of our Future” with agricultural displays, arts and crafts, farmers market, chili cook-off and scarecrow contest. More than 100 individual events, such as winemaker dinners and barbecues, are offered up at nearly 90 wineries as part of the Harvest Wine Tour Weekend in Paso Robles Wine Country, October 17-19. The San Luis Obispo Vintners Harvest Celebration, November 7-9 in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande, features winemaker dinners and a grand tasting. In locations throughout Monterey County, travelers can attend the 12th Annual Great Wine Escape Weekend, November 7-9, and enjoy its food pairing sessions, wine country open houses and tours, along with boutique wine tasting and winemaker dinners with renowned chefs.

Celebrating a year’s culmination of hard work with the vines, Temecula Valley wineries host a fun-filled weekend of food and wine on November 1-2, when one ticket price allows wine aficionados access to all participating wineries of the Temecula Wine Valley Winegrowers Association, located in the Inland Empire Region. In addition to their usual selections, wineries are offering selected new and unreleased wines, as well as barrel and tank samples and cuisine created especially to complement the wines at each winery.

Wine is also on the menu at the Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival, taking place September 5-7 outside at the Village at Northstar in Truckee in the High Sierra Region, with its vertical, portfolio and appellation premium wine and spirits tastings, grape stomp, winery dinners and live wine auction. Chef and restaurateur Stephanie Izard, the winner of the fourth season of Bravo TV’s “Top Chef,” recently signed on to host a cooking seminar at this year’s festival, which will also offer cooking and outdoor grilling classes, the Blazing Pans Mountain Chef Cook-Off (“Iron Chef” style) and kids’ cooking programs. In South Lake Tahoe, locals and visitors celebrate the beginning of fall with the annual Oktoberfest at Camp Richardson Resort & Marina, October 4-5, with pumpkin patches, hay rides, hand-crafted items and a visit to the German Beer and Wine Garden, where guests can dine on traditional German cuisine, including bratwurst and polish dogs, as well as favorites such as chicken sandwiches and pretzels.

For a California twist on a traditional harvest festival, travelers head to the North Country Fair in Humboldt County, located in the North Coast Region. The weekend event, scheduled for September 20-21, is held in Arcata around the same time as the vernal equinox, and celebrates diversity within the region and world while showing off the bounty of the area’s organic growing. Taking place Labor Day Weekend, August 29 to September 1, Fort Bragg celebrates its logging heritage with Paul Bunyan Days. Planned activities include the Logger Sup N Stomp (food, drink, music and square dancing), old fashion dress review, horseshoe tournament, pie sale and logging show. Mendocino County celebrates The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) October 27 through November 1 with a countywide altar trail displayed at wineries, galleries and restaurants.

In the San Diego County Region, visitors to LEGOLAND in Carlsbad enjoy monstrously fun events at the park’s annual Brick-or-Treat, held every weekend in October. The all-new Brick-or-Treat After Dark takes place on Saturdays, when the park comes alive with special kid-friendly activities, such as a nighttime costume contest. Screamin’ good times await visitors in downtown San Diego at the Gaslamp Quarter’s popular annual Haunted Hotel. The Haunted Hotel, located on Market Street, features rooms from Hollywood’s favorite horror films. Also in San Diego, visitors are invited to run for their lives on the Haunted Trail of Terror at Marston Point in Balboa Park, where the trail opens at sundown. A San Diego tradition “as American as apple pie” is the popular Annual Julian Fall Apple Harvest, September 15 to November 15. Each year, thousands of travelers venture to this historic mining town nested in the Cuyamaca Mountains to sample fresh, crisp apples, homemade apple pie and cider.

Visitors can be a part of a rural mountain community at the Mountain Harvest Festival & Beer Tasting October 18 in Quincy, located in the Shasta Cascade Region. Guests sample more than 25 award-winning microbrews and organic and domestic wineries, dance to the Norton Buffalo & the Knockouts, as well as enjoy family friendly activities. On-site camping is available, and the event benefits Plumas Arts.

Whether casually curious or a serious seeker of style and taste, the award-winning Art of Food & Wine Palm Desert in the Deserts Region opens guests’ eyes to the art in everyday life over four days of food, wine and cultural experiences from November 6-9. The two-day Grand Tasting features internationally renowned James Beard Chef Rick Tramonto; chef, author, restaurateur and TV personality David Rosengarten; Food Network stars The Hearty Boys; “Breakfast Queen” Ina Pinkney, and the Godfather of Thai cuisine, Tommy Tang. Crops indigenous to the Coachella Valley, such as dates, are also showcased throughout the event, as are additional elements of cooking and drinking.

The CTTC is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs - in partnership with the state's travel industry - that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to the CTTC, travel and tourism expenditures total $96.7 billion annually in California, support jobs for 924,100 Californians and generate $5.8 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about the CTTC and for a free California Visitor’s Guide, go to www.VisitCalifornia.com.