Five Harvest Festivals Worth a Trip

Toast the arrival of autumn at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, a three-day celebration of viticulture from September 30 through October 2. The fest blends wine tasting from over 150 wineries with live jazz, an art show, agricultural activities for the whole family, and, perhaps most importantly, the World Championship Grape Stomp. Think you’ve got what it takes to stomp like a champ? Find a partner and you can sign up for $30.

Travelocity has discounts on air-and-hotel packages to the region. For instance, a round-trip flight from Phoenix and four nights at the Flamingo Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa, where the festival is held, is being advertised from $411, or 30 percent off a la carte rates.

A tradition since 1903, the Circleville Pumpkin Show is Ohio’s oldest (and largest) festival, welcoming over 400,000 people each year to the four-day event. Billing itself as the greatest free show on earth, the festival packs in parades; contests; music; pumpkin treats like pies, donuts, pancakes, and ice cream; and more than 100,000 pounds of pumpkins, squash, and gourds on display. This year’s show starts on Wednesday, October 19, and runs through Saturday, October 22.

Budget is offering discounts up to 35 percent off regular online rental rates with its “Pay Now” promotion. On a four-day rental from Columbus, Ohio, during the festival, we found savings ranging from about $10 to over $30.

Chuseok, an annual celebration of the year’s harvest and a time to give thanks, is one of Korea’s three biggest holidays. Falling between September 11 and 13 this year, it’s a time when people return to their family homes to honor their ancestors with offerings and cemetery visits. Communities then gather for traditional activities such as wrestling, dancing, and traditional games such as seesaw jumping, arrow throwing, and Korean hacky sac. Chuseok is a great time to visit for two reasons: Travelers can catch traditional games and cultural displays at public events in Seoul and Busan, and tourist attractions are far less crowded since many native Koreans return to their rural hometowns to celebrate with family.

Agoda.com is offering special deals on accommodations in Seoul and Busan during Chuseok week. For instance, 40 percent off at the four-star Ramada Hotel Seoul Dongdaemun, with rates from $92 per night between September 7 and 17, or $114 per night at the five-star Haeundae Grand Hotel in Busan between September 7 and 13.

If there’s a season that kindles nostalgia, it’s fall, a perfect time for the annual Fete des Legumes Oublies, or Festival of the Forgotten Vegetables, in the small town of La Haye-de-Routot in Normandy, France. On Sunday, October 9, farmers, gardeners, chefs, and vegetable lovers come together to celebrate vegetables whose popularity have waned in recent decades. Tastings, workshops, and music offer lively accompaniment to the displays of unusual varieties of root vegetables, squash, and herbs.

La-Haye-de-Routot is in the countryside about 40 minutes from Rouen. In the region, traditional hotels are certainly an option, but may pale in comparison to other lodging choices, including chateaus (page in French), apartment rentals, country gites (page in French), and even homestays. With so many different ways to stay, there's something for every budget.

Celebrate your inner country mouse at the Harvest Festival at Bethel Woods, just 90 minutes from New York on the site of the original 1969 Woodstock festival. The free festival occurs each Sunday between September 4 and October 9. Each weekend brings a new celebration, from the Alpaca Fiesta in early September to the Rustic Craft Show on October 9. Each Sunday, visitors can also enjoy corn and hay mazes, arts and crafts workshops, pony rides, live music, and other festive harvest activities.

Through December 15, National Car Rental is offering one day free when you book a three-day compact through full-size weekend rental that includes a Saturday night. In our test, the coupon knocked $74 off the price of an early October compact rental from New York’s JFK Airport .

What are your favorite ways to celebrate fall? Share them below!