The Duluth Fall Festival dates back to 1983, but its roots actually go much deeper. In 1962 Duluth held its very first festival in the streets of Downtown Duluth. It lasted for five weeks and spotlighted the history of the town. A successful spring festival was held 14 years later in 1976 celebrating the centennial of Duluth's charter, and the bi-centennial of our nation. Out of these two festivals evolved the great event that we have today, the Duluth Fall Festival. It is always held the last weekend in September.

The festival begins on Saturday morning with a huge parade through the streets of Duluth with over 400 participants. It is followed by the opening ceremony on the stage of the Festival Center on the Town Green. Entertainment then takes over the main stage, plus a second ‘Gazebo Stage’, for the rest of the day. Sunday morning is kicked off with a 5K Road Race through Downtown Duluth. This is followed by an outdoor community worship service on the Town Green, put on by Duluth First United Methodist Church. Then there is continuous entertainment for the rest of the day. There are two areas for kid’s games and rides, so this is definitely a festival for the whole family.

However, the life of the festival is found in the streets of Duluth with the over 350 booths of select arts & crafts and food vendors. They will be selling everything that you can imagine, with something for everyone. You will find handmade crafts of every description, clothing, linens, fall and Christmas decorations, furniture, art, jewelry, toys, and so much more! For the first few years most vendors who applied were accepted, but as the festival grew the requirements had to grow stricter. Now it is a juried show and craft items must be hand made or hand decorated and approved by a committee. The booths are always sold out by June. And, of course, the most tempting thing of all is the FOOD! Over fifty food booths will be selling everything from bar-b-que to hot dogs to funnel cakes to ice cream, plus much, much more! Commercial booths are only available through the sponsor program and that is at a minimum of $1500 each.

The Festival itself only lasts for two days, but it is a year round event. Planning for the next year starts in October. The committee goes over every detail of the festival to try and improve it for the next year. Each festival has been a learning experience, and has brought new ideas, new events, and many improvements. In the beginning there were only three committees, food, arts & crafts, and entertainment. Now there are over forty committees, each in charge of just one aspect of the festival and most headed up by co-chairmen.

It is one of the most successful festivals in the state, and is put on completely by volunteers, who number over 300. They can be seen during the festival wearing their brand new, matching t-shirts. The unveiling of the annual t-shirt is one of the highlights of the Taste of Duluth event. It is held at the Payne/Corley House, Duluth’s beautiful, historic event facility, the week before the festival. A free Saturday night Festival concert is held the week before that. There are many other activities as well throughout the year. These include an annual cookout, a community picnic, the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, community workdays, monthly Festival Nights Out, and various other socials.

Through the Sponsor Program the Festival has been responsible for numerous improvements in Downtown Duluth such as landscaping, lighting, brick walkways, building renovations, a brick courtyard, etc. The most exciting were acquiring Taylor Park and building the Festival Center. However, one of the best things to come out of this is that it has brought together a group of people whose common bond is a love of Duluth. They agree that the money made, the areas that have been beautified, and even Taylor Park itself and the Festival Center, are just the beginning of the difference that the Festival has made to Duluth. It has given new people and natives a chance to get to know each other, to work together towards the same goals, and to become friends. This more than anything else has kept the wonderful small town spirit of Duluth alive..