Fall Festival offers music, activities, food and more

With the seasonal change from summer to fall comes many things, most notably cooler weather, leaves changing colors and shorter days. In order to embrace the change of seasons, the Bloomington Department of Parks and Recreation is offering a Fall Festival, a way for area residents to celebrate the coming of the fall season. The Festival, which is held in Bloomington's Miller Park, takes place on Saturday, October 14 from 2 p.

m. to 5 p.m.

This is the third-annual Festival. It is free of charge and is open to the general public. The Fall Festival was put together to celebrate the fall season with fall related activities," Randy Ralston, the Bloomington special events program manager, said.

"We put together a variety of entertainment to help the community celebrate the fall season." This celebration leaves virtually no part of the autumn season untouched. The park will be filled with an array of different activities for every age group.

Among the family friendly attractions include a climbing wall and bounce house, hayrack rides with a storyteller on board, face painting, a balloon artist, as well as soccer and hockey shootout carnival games. Several demonstrations will be offered, including a fencing, karate and pottery wheel display. Sugar Grove and Macon County nature centers will be on location, offering several exhibits and activities.

Antique automobiles will be on location as well. Several local vendors will be in attendance selling their crops. In addition to the produce sale, an arts and crafts show will be present for visitors to browse through.

Marshmallows will available to roast over a bonfire. There will also be a live DJ at the park providing music for the entire afternoon, as well as implementing games with the music. Fall related refreshments such as popcorn, cookies and punch are also supplied for free.

One of the biggest draws for the festival is that the Miller Park Zoo's gates will be open to all the attendee's for free, where the visitors can tour the zoo's facilities, as well as a park display that will be on hand.