For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Autumnal Equinox is nearly upon us, and in with the cooler September air blows a number of old festival favorites and one brand new one to help kick off the autumn festival season.

The word “festival” gets its root from a Latin word meaning “feast.” Autumn is a time of harvest, which comes from the Old English “hærfest.” Before about the 1700s, the word “hærfest” was used interchangeably with “autumn” to describe that time of year when the earth gave up its plenty. The very notion of “festival” is tied to this time of year, which has, throughout human history, been regarded as a time of great feasting and celebration.

In America, as in much of the rest of the world, autumn celebrations have traditionally centered on the showing off and trading of the fruits of the year’s harvest. These celebrations were, as now, a reflection of what life was like for the participants. Depending upon the region, the men would show off their wine, their prize pigs or tomatoes, and the women would show off their quilts and other handicrafts, and always there is music. Autumn festivals have always served an important social function, particularly when populations were more dispersed and travel of any distance was a more involved proposition than simply jumping in the family car. It was also one of the few times of year people would get to see one another, and it allowed them to procure items for the household to which they might not have access throughout the year.

The cornucopia or "horn of plenty' comes from the mythological Greek goat on whose milk the god Zeus was reared. It is also a symbol of female fertility.

In addition to developments in travel, the Industrial Revolution’s de-emphasis on rural life through the increase in large-scale commercial farming has allowed a larger percentage of the population to live without ever growing a thing. While some of these celebrations still embrace the themes of old, i.e. corn, wine, cider, etc., still others have cropped up in response to the increased leisure time modern life has allowed, and some are freed to focus entirely on the artistic areas of human endeavor. The following selection of September festivals highlights some of the traditions and some of the developments in the way we celebrate the onset of autumn.

Jazz, Wine & Art Festival (Sept. 20^th)

Kenny Kent Toyota Lexus and Downtown Evansville, a division of Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville (GAGE), present the 1^st Annual Jazz, Wine & Arts Festival on Main Street, which is shaping up to be another smash event for the Downtown Evansville organization that brought us the hugely popular Loft Tour, the Main Street Cruise-Ins, and the Farmer’s Market. This is not the first new festival the organization will have premiered this summer. They also organized a new Downtown Multicultural Festival back in June to dovetail with Funk in the City’s existing Dragons on the Ohio event, which got off to a bit of a fledgling start when the river rose too high to have the dragon boat races on the riverfront. Luckily this new event will have no such dependence upon river conditions and promises to become one of the popular mainstays of the annual Downtown events calendar, with a possible 3,000 or more people expected to attend. With all this additional traffic generated in the downtown area, some of the Main Street businesses are (wisely) adjusting their schedules to remain open to the later crowds, a move that satisfies the hopes of event organizers.

            Among the festivities there will be wine tasting, performances by local jazz musicians on three different stages and a tour of some of the downtown area’s architectural attractions, including some of the lofts from the aforementioned Loft Tour. So if you missed the Loft Tour in July, this is your second chance to check some of them out, and sample some nice wine and jazz in the process.

            Also taking part in the festival, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana will help round out the “art” component of this festival’s trifecta by displaying local art for sale. Artists are also invited to join in a Plein Air Paint Out, which will culminate in a “People’s Choice Award” at the end of the festivities.

            The best will be saved for last, however, as the IU Jazz Ensemble is slated to perform on the riverfront. For more on this festival and other events, visit www.downtownevansville.org/events. Tickets for this event are $15 per individual or $25 per couple, and can be ordered by calling GAGE at 424-2986. The first 1,000 that order tickets will receive a commemorative wine glass with the official Kenny Kent Toyota Lexus Wine, Jazz & Arts Festival logo.

New Harmony Kunstfest (Sept 20-21^st)

It’s time again to rock it New Harmony style at the annual Kunstfest. This yearly event is held in honor of the utopia-seeking founders of this usually quiet town on the banks of the Wabash River. The Kunstfest offers a time for New Harmonians, and anyone else looking for a little innocent diversion, to let their hair down, experience some fresh autumn air, and perhaps take a horse-drawn carriage ride through quaint and historic New Harmony streets.

PHOTOGRAPHY | Historic New Harmony

Kunsfest is a German-style festival held in New Harmony, IN every September honoring it's German roots. Take in a carriage ride for a relaxing town tour.

The Kunstfest is a “German-style” festival with food, music, arts & crafts, family fun, and apple cider. Of course, no “German-style” celebration would be complete without a biergarten, and the Kunstfest has you covered. Saturday from noon ‘til 9 p.m., the celebrations will hinge on the biergarten. Live German folk music begins at 5 p.m. and will last thru 9 p.m. There is a small cover charge for that portion, but the rest is FREE. In addition to the beer and cider, the food and drink menu will include apple butter and, of course, bratwurst. For the educationally minded, there will be demonstrations in butter churning, pottery, and weaving – all important skills to know if the economy continues sliding, or if you ever find yourself wanting to return to the simple life. For more on Kunstfest, check out www.newharmony.biz or call 1.800.231.2168

6^th Annual Haynie’s Corner Arts Festival (Sept. 27^th)

Last year, Funk in the City, the non-profit organization responsible for the Haynie’s Corner Arts District events management, reported that more than 100 artists participated and 6,000 people attended the Haynie’s Corner Arts Festival. This festival allows local artists a venue to display and sell their works of art, while showcasing some of the fine improvements made to the Arts District in recent years. Always central to the festival’s setting is the Art Colony Tea House gallery, which displays area artwork year-round and the looming and unmistakable Alhambra Theatre. Additional art galleries, including a fine-art-quality glass-blowing gallery has opened up in the District of late, which should only add to the diversity of the artwork at this year’s event. For more on the new art glass gallery, visit www.glowingsands.com. For more on the festival, check out www.funkinthecity.com or call (812) 575-9138.