As the leaves turn to splendid shades of yellow, orange and red, Warner prepares its Main Street to welcome hundreds of Granite Staters and out-of-staters alike to its 78th annual Fall Foliage Festival, taking place from Friday, Oct. 10 to Sunday, Oct.12.
“Everything’s coming together,” said Ray Martin, president of the festival. “We have well over 100 volunteers. People step up big time to help out and put on the festival.”
The celebration starts Friday evening with a performance from local Warner band DoBros, who will be singing rock and roll, country and bluegrass songs at Jim Mitchell Community Park. Many other local New Hampshire acts will take over the stage throughout the weekend.
The festival also features over 100 vendors, each of whom will line Main Street and Kearsarge Mountain Road with their stalls, selling jewelry, pottery, sweet treats, skincare products and even gnomes. The food trucks cruising into town include Frenchy & Ballo’s BBQ, Unlawful Waffles, Big Al’s Italian Grill & Lemonade and Loaded TOTZ.
On Saturday morning, the festival’s 5K run will occur at 9:30 a.m. and take participants through the small town’s roads. Regular registration is open until Friday at 6 p.m. for $30. Same-day registration will cost $35.
Martin said there are well over 100 participants already signed up to run.
Other events to look forward to include the farmers market, midway rides, parades, the oxen pull on Saturday and the lumberjack competition on Sunday.
Donations made to the festival all go back into Warner and its local businesses — Martin said the weekend-long event gives $20,000 on average to various organizations.
Parking costs $10 per vehicle, and the main lot is located at Nichol’s Field on Route 103. A free shuttle will go between the lot and the festival. Additional parking can be found in front of Dalton Bridge on West Joppa Road and at the Mentis Sciences building on 40 Depot St.
More information can be found at wfff.org.
A glimpse of the fall foliage ahead of the festival:
