Candied apples are a fall festival tradition.
Schools and churches often host fall festivals as annual fundraisers and community outreach opportunities. If you volunteer, you may have an assigned booth, or you may have to provide your own booth idea. Typical booths include food, activities, games or auctions. If you need a little help, consider some suggestions to get you started.
Food Booths
Nothing says fall festival like Frito pie, funnel cakes, popcorn and caramel apples. However, you may want to present something a little different. Why not add pizazz to the popcorn booth by offering gourmet seasonings in large shakers? How about a cupcake booth with the cakes beautifully displayed on tiered cupcake stands? Provide several choices of sprinkles in large shakers. You could also have a cookie booth in which you sell slices of large cookies baked on pizza pans.
Game Booths
Many traditional festival and carnival booths involve throwing --- ring toss, sticky darts and bean bags. Another throwing game involves tossing pingpong balls into plastic pumpkins, provided that you weigh them down with sand. If you have a parking lot booth, you can draw a display for your containers with sidewalk chalk. For example, draw a colorful pumpkin patch and place the plastic pumpkins in its midst. For prizes, you could offer real miniature pumpkins with silly faces painted on them.
Activity Booths
Grab a few artistic people and set up a face or fingernail painting booth with the appropriate paints or polish and a few simple and colorful designs. Visitors pay for the design of their choice. Simple crafts also make excellent booths. Try offering a sand art station, and provide colorful sand and small containers, along with a few examples. You could also learn a few simple origami designs and teach visitors in an origami booth. Participants can take their origami treasures home.
Auction Booths
A silent auction booth requires a lot of preparation, but it can earn a substantial bit of money for your organization. A themed auction works best. For example, have a gift basket auction. Each basket could have a different theme, such as a movie night or picnic. Ask local businesses and individuals to donate items. Sometimes classes pull together to donate the items needed to complete baskets. Participants visit your booth to look over the baskets and write down a bid. Winning bids receive their baskets at the end of the festival.
