I have been trying to attend this festival for years and I finally did! It is worth your time. So much to choose from foods: deserts, gyros, corn dogs, foot long corn dogs, bacon on a stick, funnel cake and more. There all types of lemonade, beer and water. Many things to buy crafts, jewelry, pots & pans, cheese cutting boards, baskets, paintings and more. There is a kid's inflatable area and petting zoo. Sooo much happening at this festival close to home with that fall vibe, was a perfect activity for me. It is always held the last Saturday and Sunday of September. Make plans for next year if you missed it. read more

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I used to go to this festival every year as a kid and absolutely loved all the activities, different foods & stalls! I got to go back this year after a longgg time and was kind of surprised in how it turned more into a food festival, there was literally a whole strip just dedicated to food vendors. There was such a wide variety of foods from all sorts of different authentic cuisines to snacks and homemade treats for on the go! We ended up getting a frozen pink lemonade, elotes and the impossible gyoza. One of the stalls did sell fresh apple cider donuts and I would definitely recommend getting them if you go! Overall such a good time and experience with your friends and family! You can easily spend a couple hours here and they have a mini pumpkin patch, face painting, live music you name it! It's only one weekend though so be sure you're free! read more

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The Duluth Fall Festival is the perfect festival. It's a large one so it attracts a lot of people and is able to spread them out over the many acres of the downtown area. The festival makes full use of downtown Duluth, including its main street and off-streets, amphitheater, grassy lawns, and of course, the storefronts adding unique cuisine to the fun. The vendors feature a wide and diverse craft/art vendor selection with the occasional booth selling air conditioning or whatever. There is a massive outdoor food court area and childrens' play area as well. The weather today was perfect and the place was packed. We spent some money on hand-crafted items too! read more

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This festival is all right. If it weren't just a couple of weeks after Yellow Daisy...I might like it even more. It is a big festival, claiming about 250 booths. However, once we arrived, we realized a good number of booths were for local businesses to advertise, not so much selling crafts. The downtown Duluth area is really cute, and we enjoyed walking around there. The booths were varied--we saw lots of bows. There is parking near the site (we found some there no problem), and there are also free shuttle buses from the local school parking lots. Pure Taqueria is on one end, and they were selling margaritas to go. It was pretty hot, so a cool beverage was really nice. There are also a number of food vendors that had tacos, crab cakes, hot dogs, Etc. Overall, it was a nice community festival. I think my expectations were too high after attending Yellow Daisy two weeks prior. read more

Duluth Fall Festival - 2016 Festival Map - Festivals Near Me - Duluth, Georgia

Have never missed a DFF in 25 years since I was born :) So of course, this review will be historical and commentary about the changes over the years. I always notice the new artists and remember the ones who come back every year. DFF has become the SE largest fall festival- citizens used to be happy to get just 1000 people, back when I was little, when only 25 tents dotted the back then small lawn and courtyard, but this year they estimated 100,000 attendees and Duluth has renovated its downtown with new cafes, bars, restaurants, and boutiques. It is certainly a nice stroll in the newness and seeing Southern folk culture, fall festivities, performances, and also making friends with the vendors over the years. Peak traffic: Busiest on Saturday noon to end of the day. Quietest on Sunday morning, but that's when the 5k happens around downtown, so join in the fun and cheer on the runners! Cash/credit- almost all vendors have Square Point of Sale, so they should accept credit card, but of course bring 50$ or more in cash for small purchases if you don't want to swipe 5$ at 60 booths and then have your bank calling you up for suspicious activity. Family and children: Great for the fam, for groups of friends, for visitng people, and all people Arts- Duluth fall festival is not as bougie and urban as the ones in Piedmont, Grant Park, or the ones in Atlanta, but this is the real reason why it's the SE largest one- it keeps the small town charm to remind you that this is a suburbia fall festival and not some high end arts festival. That being said, many of these artists do not have online accounts on etsy, social media, and so, much of this art is untainted. you will have some trite and bland stuff, but it just contributes to more booths and tents to appreciate. There are some special artists that you only see at the festivals and the art is untainted. the ones who are new are often very unique and have a fresh feel to them- some artists unfortunately become more commercialized over timeb/c of their success and lose originality. Other artists who come back over the years, sometimes have renaissances in their artistry. Some notable ones include Manami, an artist whose style includes circles, ethereal blues and greens, nature and swirls- she went through a renaissance this year with themes of animals and freedom. Another couple who come every year, paint hand made pottery of Southern gothic spiritual- you will see their mini jackolanterns, father moon, mother earth, and father tree spirit themes. This year, a new artist who makes PANJOs- that's right a banjo out of pans, showcased their work, and it was very popular. Another artist who creates giant rings out of wires and stones had a theme of big jewelry for big minded people- loved that their rings took up half your hand in such a classy elegant way that didn't scream costume jewelry but truly art, showcased their work for the first time. I've also seen beach trash made into beautiful decorations, yarn made into wire sculptures. Vendors- The one thing that I do wish they would put a cap on is the number of vendors for some endeavors. For example, usually the people with the dips, smack yo mama sauces, foods are all unique and have no competition. Within the arts, even the puppet makers, wood carvers, etc are not pitting against each other. The soap makers/lotion makers had too many this year, and I would argue that some of the sports memoralia, crochet/yarn places were against each other. But, the soaps definitely had too many booths this year, so while DFF has grown larger, it has to be careful about helping out local artists without encroaching on skills. as DFF gets larger, it is inevitable that there will be businesses like banks, construction, home living, chiropractics, etc having booths. There are even health screenings by the railroad track. What I do like is that, DFF seems to have done a good job in curbing the number of commercialized tents- it keeps teh fall festival truly a fall festival rather than bringing too many sponsors that turn this quickly into a home depot venue. Schools- Usually there are schools like Duluth High School who have their own booths here to raise money for their clubs and activites. I was actually surprised that there was less school presence this year compared to other schools. I think this would be great for other schools of art, public schools, etc to come participate in because it also helps kids become more in touch with their communities and realize the businesses out there, and also foster communal growth- I'm glad Duluth has made the downtown more walkable for the students in general though to hang out after school Food- you will find gyros, funnel cakes, barbecue, lemonade, desserts, etc. I do wish some more bakeries and diverse food venues came out- you had your kettle corn, dips, sauces, and typical festival food. There are a couple of stallls that sell wondrous breads and pralines and candied nuts. read more

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My family had been going to this festival for years. It seems there isn't much to do anymore. It seems to be geared towards sales not people. There was not much to do other than eat. read more

Being a self proclaimed veteran of the Duluth food truck Friday events, I had an expectation in my head of what the Duluth Fall Festival would look like, but when I got there, that expectation was smashed, and replaced with something so much more massive than food truck Fridays. First off, Vendors, vendors VENDORS. Vendors ranged from hot dog kiosks to candles, to radio stations to the AJC newspaper or even free spine evaluation. There really was something for EVERYone here. FOOD So so much food. I either tried or purchased the following: Funnel Cake Alligator sausage Italian Ice (Pina Colada) Lemonade Funnel cake ($7) was MONSTROUS, and the size of the actual plate itself. I shared this with two other people, and we still weren't able to eat even half of it. It was tasty, not super greasy, but powdered sugar went everywhere. Alligator Sausage ($5) was a decent sized sausage on a stick, that had an italian sausage flavor to it. Very aggressive seasoning that made it so you couldn't really taste the alligator. True enough, I don't have prior experience with Alligator meat to compare it to, but as a sausage it was great. As an Alligator sampler, I dunno. Italian Ice The Shaved Ice ($4) came in two varieties. A smoother, more concentrated flavor of the Italian Ice, that was what I tried (I really enjoyed it) or the Hawaiian shaved ice equivalent, which was less flavor, more coarse ice, and you got more of it than the Italian ice. Either way, on a hot day both of these are a good choice Lemonade The Lemonade ($6) was a large cup that came with a ton of ice, and wasn't sugary sweet. I was happy about the limited sugar, but not about the extra ice. I can kinda see why they would pack it full of ice, because their promotion was $3 refills for the entire day. This isn't a value though if you only get one of these. The drink was tasty though, and refreshing on the hot day. Beyond vendors and food, there were also several rides that were all packed with people, and if that wasn't your speed, there also was live music, silent auctions, and countless other ways to have fun. Parking for the festival was actually not so bad for me, but I came a little earlier. After leaving, parking was definitely "park on the grass" busy. Getting into the festival wasn't too difficult, mainly due to the multiple entryways and that there was no fee to get in (and thus, no long bottleneck lines). For my first Duluth Fall Festival, I think it was a success. I had lots of fun, was stuffed with food, and visited a decent amount of vendors! Honestly, the only bad part about the festival was the summer like temps during a fall festival, but that's out of the festival's hands. If you missed it this year, be sure to catch it next year, and maybe you'll see me there! read more

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This is such a huge festival. The food and its variety here were pretty cheap. If you wait towards the end of the festival, some vendor booths will give away their food. Some. Not all. lol. There were all sorts of vendors: arts and crafts, plant growers, photographers, healthcare workers, promotional booths, and so much more. So after browsing and shopping your heart out, buy some food, then sit down at the main stage and enjoy the free entertainment. And yes, chairs are provided... Parking can be a pain, but there were plenty of spots around the immediate area of down town. Drive around and you will find a spot. read more

It's not like Piedmont Arts festival where you'll see paintings that are $500+. Most of the art here were sculptures and not paintings that ranged from $20 to $50. I really like the main stage that had a group of kids covering classic rock songs. There were plenty of chairs too. Pros The art and food are decently priced. Large. Cons The problem with this festival is that it's happening when there are a lot of other festivals going on in ATL. Greek festival, AWA, and others. Would I come here again? Maybe. I don't have time to do all the festivals so I'll probably try the Greek festival next year. read more

DULUTH FALL FESTIVAL! It has been several years since we've been to the Duluth Fall Festival. Back in the day, we would drive, park on site and set up chairs for the parade. I would then scream and hustle for candy for my daughter. I still remember that Publix had the best "chilled" chocolate. Well those were the "good ole days" and now we take a different approach. This time we decided to take one of the shuttles from one of the three designated parking areas. Boy was that a great idea! The shuttle turned out to be a really nice air conditioned Trailways bus. It was so nice and made getting around much easier. This festival has really grown but does not offer much more than it did previously. You get a parade, carnival rides, arts and crafts vendors and a variety of food vendors. They have the parade first and then they have the opening ceremony where they thank their sponsors and honor the flag. That goes until noon and then they start the on stage performances and music. Too late, we were on our way home by then. I really appreciate festivals that start early with live music which really sets the tone for the day. Not everyone is going to attend the parade or visit vendors. A lot of people just want to chill, listen to music and eat. If you are taking your children and they are more interested in rides than the parade, I say skip the parade and hit the rides because there were absolutely no lines at this time. We witnessed four kids having the time of their life on those empty rides. Smart! If at all possible I would advise you to take chairs that you can park under the large trees on the hill. This will allow you to keep cool and listen to the music without getting an ear bleed. The recorded music was crazy loud even though we sat in the very last row of chairs. At the center of the food court, you will notice the Festival vendor with the festival volunteers. This money goes directly to the festival and although you might not want a hotdog or chips, you can always use a bottle of water. It is going to be less here than at the private vendors and the money taken in goes back into the festival and is spent on beautifying Duluth's town center. It is certainly money well spent. The high-light of this festival? The train of course! When the train rolls through town, all eyes shift in that direction and just think, they are actually planning to build a platform for viewing the train. Yes!! Every festival needs a train, it is simply the finishing touch. ***If you attend the festival here is what you need to know: The festival takes place on Sat and Sunday. Shuttles are available and recommended. However, you will want to catch the shuttle as early as possible because the streets shut down during the parade which starts at 10:00. The shuttles will drop you off at the elementary school across the street. The school is open and available if you need to use the restroom or wash your hands. You will find the high-school kids on this side selling treats and bottled water. The water here was a dollar while vendors at the festival were selling it for $3. Ride the carnival rides during the parade to avoid lines. Yes, the festival starts at 9:00, but some vendors are up and running much earlier. This is a wonderful family oriented festival. Go and have a great time!! read more

I LOVE this festival with all of my heart and have been a devoted attendee nearly every year for the last 12+ years. It would get a perfect 5 stars if not for a few major factors, but it's by far my favorite Fall festival and a must-do to usher in the season. First, arrive early if you go on Saturday. As the festival and town have grown, parking has become severely limited. And although there is shuttle service from local schools, this is suspended during the parade (and roads are closed), which can make it a huge ordeal to even reach the festival. (One big strike against it.) Once you are there, my favorite things to do are the used book sale and just browsing the booths. I always leave with a trunkful of books, a box of apple-cider donuts, and a sackful of potpourri for the season. There's also a plethora of candles, jewelry, art, clothes, and other foods. Great place for unique gifts. It's fun to look around if you have the time, but be prepared for crowds. There is also a carnival if the kids get bored, and a Man Corner with grilling and yard wares if the menfolk get bored. The major strike against the festival is the food. While there are a few standout staples (Bayou Billy's soda truck comes to mind -- don't forget your souvenir tin mug to use each year), overall the food is very disappointing and not at all exciting. Sure you can find the typical festival regulars like gyros, popcorn, corn dogs, and funnel cakes. But with so many amazing food trucks in Atlanta, I have found myself wishing in recent years that they could include better quality options. Still, maybe this would detract from the rest of the festival. Can't wait until this year's festival this coming Saturday and Sunday! read more