The annual Fall Festival offers two weeks of fun in Frankfort, Beulah, Benzonia and the surrounding area. The Benzie County Visitor’s Bureau has a page of information on the festival and you can get the poster from the Frankfort-Elberta Chamber.
Weekend of October 6-7
Fall food takes center stage with the Fall Soup Contest on Saturday (Oct 6) in Beulah Park and the Honor Lions Club Hillbilly Breakfast from 8:30 – 12:30 on Sunday (Oct 7).
There’s also a Sidewalk Art Contest and a Fall Market in Beulah on Saturday and the Crystal Lake Elementary FallFest Fundraiser in Benzonia on Saturday with a full lineup of fun for families including a produce & products market, cider press, carnival with prizes, food, refreshments, petting zoo and fire truck rides.
Crystal Mountain offers scenic chairlift rides to view the fall colors (4-6 PM both Saturday the 6th & 13th) and a haunted forest (6-9:30 PM) on Saturday and then hosts the Betsie Valley Run on Sunday with a 10K Run and Half Marathon Walk & Run. The photo above is Big breeze at Pt Betsie by Jim Sorbie at Point Betsie Lighthouse is open to visit both weekends!
Weekend of October 13-14
At 11 AM on Saturday, October 13 2007, the Fall Festival Parade and Mutt March will take place in downtown Frankfort (costume judging for the Mutts is at 10 AM). 
Other events following the parade include a Pumpkin luncheon at the Recreation Center, performances by the internationally acclaimed Scottville Clown Band and a ton of fall fun at the Open Space including:
- Giant Pumpkin weigh-in (guess the weight and win a bike!)
- Mutt Corral with awards and doggy fun
- Giant Pumpkin Carving and Auction
- A hay wagon ride through Frankfort with a storyteller
- The Pumpkin Regatta
- Activities for kids including games, pumpkin decorating, face painting, balloon man, straw maze, fortune teller, pumpkin bowling and pumpkin hillbilly golf!
A really cool looking feature is the Pumpkin Chuckin’ Catapults at 2:30 PM and be sure to save room for the Frankfort City Fire Dept Fish Fry (3 – 6 PM).
Saturday night also features late night shopping at participating downtown businesses, a Mad Cap Puppet Show at Frankfort High School (6:30 PM) and at 7 PM Bayside Haunting at Old Coast Guard Station.
The photo to the right is Extreme Pumpkin by John Clement Howe (view a set of photos). You can learn more about noted pumpkin carver Ed Moody. That link goes to his web site where you’ll find some photos of his amazing work.
