What should you do in September? You could pick up a new hobby (I recommend baking this month), join a fun run, or let others fill your schedule for you because there are so many festivals coming up.
The Month of Many Festivals
Festival minds think alike, and they all think September is the ideal month for their events. Here are some of our favorites that we think you should hit:
- 🎶 World Village Festival, Sept. 4 - 6: For the first time, this music and food festival will take place at JUMP. There are over a dozen musical and dance groups taking the stages, with backgrounds from all over the world.
- 🎨 Art in the Park, Sept. 5 - 7: Hundreds of artists and vendors will be at Julia Davis Park this weekend. It’s the perfect place to find a little gift for someone, or a massive art piece for your home.
- 🏳️🌈 Boise Pride, Sept. 6 - 7: The first Pride back at Ann Morrison and down to a two-day schedule, I’m excited to see how Pride feels in a year when the LGBTQ+ community has been lambasted. The stakes are higher, that’s for sure! We’ll have a booth, come say hi!
- 🎃 Taste of Caldwell Harvest Festival, Sept. 6: Try ten different pairings of locally grown foods and locally made beverages at the Indian Creek Plaza. Tickets are $45, or you can get a table.
- 🎊 Hyde Park Street Fair, Sept. 12 - 14: Camel’s Back Park will be packed like it is every year for the North End Neighborhood Association’s — and Boise’s — hippiest festival.
- 🍺 Old Boise Oktoberfest, Sept. 13: The Old Boise intersection may look different this year thanks to the new Kaixo Corner Park, but the Oktoberfest will still be held at 6th and Grove Streets.
- 🏍️ Indian Creek Festival, Sept. 19 - 20: Caldwell’s Indian Creek Plaza will be bustling for one of the plaza’s biggest events of the year, with car and motorcycle shows, a market, a band, a kayak race, and more.
- 🎷 Eagle Jazz and Blues Fest, Sept. 19 - 20: There are five different events you can buy tickets for during this weekend festival, which is the premier event from this organization that supports jazz and blues culture around the calendar.
- 🍺 Payette Brewing Oktoberfest, Sept. 19 - 20: Want to be Mr and Mrs. Oktoberfest? The best dressed attendees will take home the honor, and there are other competitions and beer, obviously.
- 🥨 Das Alpenhaus Deli Oktoberfest, Sept. 19 - 20: The valley’s only German deli throws its own Oktoberfest, of course. If you want quality German food at your Oktoberfest, this is the one to attend.
- 🚲 Open Streets Boise, Sept. 28: This’ll be the Boise Bicycle Project’s second Open Streets festival, after the highly successful first at Latah Street last year. This one will be on Ustick Road; Expect more on Open Streets in Hey Boise soon!
Get Outside
What else is going on this September? In Boise, the month can be autumn if you want, or it can be a bonus summer month. So it’s still a good time to go camping, or to spend time outside in other ways.
Along with festival season, it’s also race season. There are a few fun runs on the calendar, with the largest being St. Luke’s FitOne on Sept. 20. Even if you don’t sign up (which you can still totally do), cheering on strangers at a fun run with other strangers is fun, endearing, and encouraging.
