Attention horror movie fans, the Dark Carnival film festival is coming up; September 28th- October 4th , 2009 in Bloomington, IN.

Scenes from... Indy International Festival

This must be our year to get to festivals for the first time that we've heard about for years only to be disappointed to find out that they aren't as cool as we imagined. We went to the Fairgrounds last night to check out the International Festival and found flea market type merchandise and foods from restaurants we go to anyway for a lot less money than was charged here. When you can go to Shalimar or Da Blu Lagoon and have a reasonably priced buffet, why would you pay so much more here along with the $9 admission fee and $3 to park? We usually stay away from events at the Fairgrounds just for that nickel and dime reason. Once we pay to park and pay an admission fee, it takes away money that we would have spent at the event. We had a couple of unremarkable sambosas and then just called it an evening.

After years of conflicting schedules, we finally hope to get to the International Festival this Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. It looks like a great bunch of food, gifts, entertainment, and exposure to lots of ethnicities under one roof. We can't wait.

Don't forget that the Irvington Halloween Festival is now underway. Tonight there is a showing of the 1931 Frankenstein at the Irvington library.

Scenes from... New Earth Festival- Atlanta, IN

OK, that was not at all what we expected. That's the problem with having really big imaginations and having heard about an event for years. In our minds, a New Earth Festival would have eco-friendly things, natural products, maybe even some yoga related booths, pieces made by local artists- stuff like that. We envisioned an enclave of artistic, new age-y types in Atlanta. However, it was much more like a flea market. It is big and hugely popular so, evidently, it is something that a lot of people enjoy- it just wasn't our cup of tea. We did think the Atlanta Mercantile store on Main St. was lovely (that is the inside of their store pictured). The photos pretty much tell the story of the types of merchandise there; sheets, undergarments (?!), "designer" purses and there was every fair food that you might crave there too. We just wanted to give everyone a sense of the festival in case you are thinking about checking it out in a future year. While it wasn't for us, it might be exactly what you are looking for.

Don't forget Oktoberfest this weekend and next weekend. It's at the Indiana State Fairgrounds this year so you can take the fair train!!

Scenes from... Feast of Lanterns

We were downtown for an event last night so we swung by Spades Park to see the Feast of Lanterns after reading about it for years. Not very familiar with the area, we twisted and turned through the streets, unsure where we were, until we saw the beautiful sight of all of these papers lanterns suspended throughout the park. They were absolutely gorgeous- definitely more spectacular than we imagined. We found parking on a side street and walked through the park to gawk at the lanterns, listen to good music, and browse at some cool art. We are so glad that we've finally seen this tradition. We love a sense of history about a place so we love that this website has some newspaper clippings from as far back as 1923 documenting the Feast of Lanterns. The pictures don't really do the lanterns justice so be sure to go to the Feast of Lanterns next year and see them for yourself.

There are diverse options for the penultimate weekend of August. For food, sidewalk sales, a walk/run, cornhole tournament, and music; head to the Bears of Blue River Festival in Shelbyville, IN. There's a FREE Indian dance performance at Pike Performing Arts on Saturday. The Feast of Lanterns is on Saturday in the adorable Cottage Home neighborhood. There's a Weekend with the Zombies at Key Cinemas (and a showing of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? on Sat. and Sun.).Whew!