Autumn Leaf Festival
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The Allegheny Toyota Autumn Leaf Festival is a nine-day annual festival held in Clarion, Pennsylvania that features food, events, entertainment, carnival rides, and cultural nights. Pennsylvania Western University, located in Clarion, hosts its annual homecoming football game and concerts during the festival. More than 300,000 people attend the festival annually, of whom 10,000 or more are students who come out to observe, buy from, or promote the various craft stands that line the thoroughfare of the town's main street.[1][2]
History[edit]
The first recognized Autumn Leaf Festival was held in 1953 during Clarion State College's homecoming. Businesses were asked to decorate for the occasion, with Ruth Neiger from Brockway serving as the Homecoming Queen.[3]
In 1954, there were two parades to attract visitors to the area. The first parade included Veterans of Foreign Wars, Girl Scouts, volunteer firefighters, the Lions Club, the Autumn Leaf Queen’s float, and seven Clarion County bands. The second was the Clarion State Teachers College homecoming parade, held two and a half hours later. It included floats made by local fraternities and sororities.
In 1956, the annual "Tournament of Leaves" parade was a part of the Clarion State Teachers College Homecoming. Local businesses contributed monetary prizes for the float competition, which was movie themed.[3]
In 1958, the Autumn Leaf Festival became a permanent event, and the Chamber implemented a committee to organize the annual festivities. The Miss Teen Autumn Leaf Festival scholarship pageant, which started as a homecoming queen riding in the parade, became a permanent event in 1977.
Farmers and Crafter's Day usually occurs on the last Friday of the nine-day festival. The event started in 1977 and was originally called the Farmers and Merchants Day Craft Show. On this day, 10,000-plus patrons and students come out to peruse, buy from, or promote the craft stands that line both sides of the main street in Clarion. PennWest Clarion gives its students a "mid-semester break" so they can attend the Crafter's Day the following day.[4]
The annual fair welcomes turnout from high schools and colleges, which work together to produce floats for the festival parade. During the 2009 festival, the parade lasted an hour and 15 minutes with bands, cars, horses, marching units, and drill teams joining the floats.
Past Autumn Leaf Festival Themes[edit]
No Autumn Leaf Festival was held in 1966
- 1965 "I-80: Main Street, USA"
- 1967 "100 Years of Education"
- 1968 "America, the Beautiful"
- 1969 "Time and Space"
- 1970 "Man and His Environment"
- 1971 "Accent on Youth"
- 1972 "Gay Nineties"
- 1973 "Peace the World Awaited"
- 1974 "Pennsylvania Revisited"
- 1975 "Wonderful World of Animation"
- 1976 "American, Let's Celebrate"
- 1977 "Autumn Wonderland"
- 1978 "ALF Silver Anniversary"
- 1979 "A Child's Fantasy"
- 1980 "Energy: Rainbow to the Future"
- 1981 "America Goes Country"
- 1982 "Clarion Gets Physically Fit"
- 1983 "Clarion Salutes the Movies"
- 1984 "Autumn Art Spectacular"
- 1985 "Clarion Salutes Miss Liberty"
- 1986 "Pennsylvania Higher Education - 100 Autumns in Clarion"
- 1987 "Volunteers"
- 1988 "Clarion's Colorful Heritage"
- 1989 "Clarion County's Sesquicentennial Celebration"
- 1990 "90's Clarion Celebrates World Freedom"
- 1991 "Clarion County Proud and Productive"
- 1992 "Discover Autumn in Clarion County"
- 1993 "Clarion County Through the Years"
- 1994 "Celebrate the Season"
- 1995 "Autumn's Tapestry"
- 1996 "Carousel of Colors"
- 1997 "Pennsylvania's Outstanding Community"
- 1998 "Autumn in the Air"
- 1999 "An Autumn Mardi Gras"
- 2000 "Twenty Centuries of Autumn"
- 2001 "Pinnacle of Success"
- 2002 "There's No Place Like Home"
- 2003 "Leaves of Gold"
- 2004 "Clarion's Treasure Chest of Leaves"
- 2005 "Autumn Leaves You Breathless"
- 2006 "A Symphony of Color"
- 2007 "Autumn Magic"
- 2008 "Cruise into Autumn"
- 2009 "Clarion River's Show of Leaves"
- 2010 "Celebration of Nature"
- 2011 "An Autumn to Remember"
- 2012 "Autumn's Quilt of Colors"
- 2013 "Diamond Jubilee of Color"
- 2014 "An Autumn Safari"
- 2015 "Clarion: A Canvas of Color"
- 2016 "Autumn Through the Looking Glass"[5]
- 2017 "Leaves of Blue and Gold Celebrating Clarion University's 150 Anniversary"
- 2018 "A Timeless Tradition"
- 2019 "An American Autumn"
- 2020 "Falling into the Future"
- 2021 "Turn Over a New Leaf"
- 2022 "Autumn Adventures"
- 2023 "Groovin' Into Autumn"
- 2024 “Flavors of Fall”
References[edit]
- ^ techreadypro. "70th Annual Allegheny Toyota Autumn Leaf Festival™". Clarion Chamber of Business & Industry | Clarion PA. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ "The Ultimate Guide to the 69th Annual Autumn Leaf Festival". exploreVenango.com. 2022-09-23. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ a b "History". autumnleafclarionpa.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ Scott Lyon. "Changing Leaves". pabook.libraries.psu.edu. Archived from the original on 2013-05-15.
- ^ "Clarion Chamber of Business and Industry" (PDF). web.archive.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-04-21. Retrieved 2024-04-21.