Building Community Through Tradition: Amherst College’s Fall Festival

Author

Austin Huot, Director of Conferences and Special Events, Amherst College

If you’ve been to New England in the fall, chances are you’ve attended a festival celebrating this beloved season. As New England’s iconic fall foliage became a tourist draw in the mid-1900s, towns began hosting events that showcased local food, crafts, and scenic beauty. 

Today’s New England fall festivals often combine historic traditions with culinary innovation. A prominent example is The Big E, an annual fair held in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which highlights the best of New England and attracts more than 1.5 million people each year. 
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In 2013, the president of Amherst College, a small private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, leveraged the creativity of the Office of Conferences and Special Events to establish a new campus tradition: Fall Festival. The goal was to create a celebration that would bring together students, faculty, staff, and families—many of whom are new to New England—and share the flavors and spirit of the season.

Now in its twelfth year, the festival offers an opportunity to sample the traditional fall flavors of the region. The menu varies year to year but features staple items like fried dough, cider donuts, and apple and pumpkin served many ways. This year’s highlights included:

• Caramel apples, apple crisp, fresh apple cider donuts, and apple rings.
• Pumpkin donut holes with pumpkin vanilla sauce, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin hummus cups, pumpkin fries, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin empanadas.
• Butternut bisque, New England clam chowder, mini lobster rolls, and shaved Brussels sprout caesar salad.
• Pulled Pork Sundaes: a savory barbeque sundae consisting of pulled pork, baked beans, and mashed potatoes.
• Wood-fired pizza, freshly popped kettle corn, and fried dough.

Beyond the food, the festival features pumpkin carving, horse-drawn wagon rides, face painting, lawn games, and live Americana or folk music.

This year’s Fall Festival welcomed more than 2,200 members of the Amherst College community. The menu is the result of a close collaboration between Dining Services, an in-house operation whose culinary creativity shines at this event, and Conferences and Special Events, which sources food vendors and serves as the visionary and lead organizer. It’s a large-scale effort supported by dedicated campus partners in Facilities—a genuine community collaboration that showcases what makes Amherst such a special place.

We’re proud to share this signature event with our ACCED-I community and invite you to learn more about this beloved tradition and view the full photo album at Amherst.edu/go/fallfest.