Fall Festival Never Fails To Feed And Entertain

Kuchen and tenderloins and sausage burgers...oh my.

The fried food bonanza known as the 96th Annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival presented munchies as far as the eye could see. Evansville’s West Franklin Street hosted more than 130 food booths, a Saturday-evening parade with about 100 participating marching bands and floats, talent competitions, live music, carnival rides and games from Oct. 2-7.

Volunteers in a baker’s dozen of booths sponsored by schools, parishes and organizations connected with the Diocese of Evansville worked endlessly to provide food and service to the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the festival, one of the largest street festivals in the United States. Many booths are considered a staple of some festival-goers’ Fall Festival diets.

“I always start with an old standby,” Charlie Koressel, deacon at St. Philip Parish in Posey County, said, enjoying a sausage burger from Corpus Christi Chuck Wagon. “It’s been here for 50, 60 years.”

Kuchen is a mainstay for several of the diocesan booths. Volunteers at Resurrection Parish prepared hundreds of the pastries each day of the festival, working before sunrise in the school cafeteria. While some organizations have built a reputation for classics, others try out new flavors to spark interest.  St. Wendel Parish offered jalapeno bacon kuchen along with traditional fruit and cinnamon flavors.

Proceeds from the sales benefit the organizations and provide funding for improvements for the schools and parishes.  

The tug-of-war event drew large crowds on Oct. 3 as middle school students from Westside schools participated in the annual event.  This year, St. Philip School brought home the top prize.

In the annual queen contest, Nettie Nottingham from Saint Philip was named queen along with her escort, Garrett Walker. Queen candidates and their escorts are eighth-graders from area schools, selected by their peers. The queen contestants were judged for poise, appearance and manners.