Photo: Kevin Stillman SEPTEMBER 2019 91
EVENTS
EDITORS’ PICKS | SEPTEMBERT
he Texas State Forest Festival, founded in 1938 and held as a county
fair until 1953, is a fall staple in Lufkin. This year’s event features
more than 20 rides, live music, a beer garden, and market and food
vendors, so there’s something for everyone in the 20,000-plus crowd. A
homespun highlight is the annual hushpuppy championship—now in its
48th year—where fried-food fanatics compete to see if their special ingre-
dient causes their iteration of the Southern delicacy to soar to the top of the
judges’ list. Attendees can also enjoy an
event Paul Bunyan wouldn’t miss: the
All-American Lumberjack Show. This
35-year tradition features axe throwing,
tree climbing, and log rolling.
—Mikela Floyd KinnisonOut of the Woods
A Piney Woods tradition celebrates the art of the lumberjackArts &
CultureCENTRAL TEXASComfort
Fall Art Festival
Sept. 14
Nearly 30 artists display their
works at shops in the historic
downtown area and at local winer-
ies. Browse, shop, and support art-
ists selling paintings, ceramics, and
jewelry. Historic Downtown Comfort.
830-995-3131; comfort-texas.comGiddings
Texas Word Wrangler
Book Festival
Sept. 13-14
Texas authors come to Giddings
with a variety of books—children’s
stories, crafts, poetry, Texas cook-
books, historical fiction, mystery,
romance, music, gardening, and
anything related to Texas. Authors
sell their books and take questions.
Giddings Public Library and Cultural
Center, 276 N. Orange St. 979-542-
2716; texaswordwrangler.com
Ingram
Texas Arts and Crafts Fair
Sept. 28-29
The 43rd annual fair has more
than 100 artists, musicians,
demonstrators, and food vendors.
The Limeliters and Kerrville’s
Sentimental Orchestra headline
the festival, and Doug Baum and
his Texas Camel Corps make an
appearance, offering living history
lessons about the use of camels
in Texas and across America in
the 19th century. Fairgoers can
pet camels and observe items
handcrafted from camel hair.
Artists at the festival include
painters, sculptors, jewelry
makers, and woodworkers. Hill
Country Arts Foundation, 120 Point
Theatre Road S. 830-367-5121;
txartsandcraftsfair.comSan Marcos
Mermaid Parade and Faire
Sept. 21
Festivities are part of Mermaid
Splash, an annual, multi-eventTexas State Forest Festival, Sept. 18-22
George H. Henderson Jr. Expo Center,
1200 Ellen Trout Drive, Lufkin
936-634-6644;
texasstateforestfestival.comfestival celebrating San Marcos’
arts, culture, heritage, and the San
Marcos River. Head downtown
for the Mermaid Promenade, an
eclectic spectacle full of floats,
marchers, dancers, and music.
Follow the floats to San Marcos
Plaza Park for a free community
festival of art, live music, food, and
fun. Downtown San Marcos/City
Park, 111 E. San Antonio St. 512-825-
2819; mermaidsocietysmtx.comSan Antonio
Pachanga de Palabras:
A Westside Book Festival
Sept. 28
Join Echale Books, a traveling,
bookselling popup, for a book
festival. There are poets, book
and zine vendors (self-published
magazines), free workshops and
activities for all ages, and live
music. Plaza Guadalupe, 1327
Guadalupe St. 210-328-1980NORTH TEXAS / PANHANDLEAnson
Party in the Park
Sept. 21
Anson City Park comes alive with
local food trucks, a craft show, live
music, bounce houses, a five-horse
carousel, and a petting zoo. This
event is held in conjunction with
the Jones County Fair and Livestock
Show. Anson City Park, 2231 Avenue
G. 325-823-3259Arlington
Montopolis: The Legend
of Big Bend
Sept. 22
Indie classical group Mon-
topolis turns Texas tales into
song with a free musical and
visual experience. Levitt Pavilion,
100 W. Abram St. 817-543-4301;
levittpavilionarlington.orgDallas
El Greco, Goya, and a Taste
for Spain: Highlights from
The Bowes Museum
Sept. 15-Jan. 12
The development of Spanish art
across three centuries—from
large, gold-encrusted retable pan-
els of saints to intimate portraits