With live music, food vendors, parades and more, South Park Street is bustling with excitement for the 90th Monroe County Fall Festival. The festival began Thursday and will continue through Saturday in Ellettsville.
The festival includes a mechanical bull, human-sized hamster ball, bounce house and miniature golf available through Saturday.
Thursday evening kicked off with a First Responders recognition at 5 p.m. on the main stage. Following the singing of the national anthem, State Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, introduced the 2025 Fall Festival Queen and her court. Chloe Richardson, a junior at Edgewood High School, was crowned queen Sept. 5 at her school.
“For the contest itself, I was obviously nervous,” Richardson said. “But at the same time, I was excited when I won because I’m excited to serve my community and be able to have more opportunities.”
The reigning queen volunteers across Monroe County, attends events and judges other local pageants.
Adorned in sparkling costumes, members of the Indiana Dance Company took the main stage at 6 p.m. Thursday for multiple performances — from a tap dance to a dance to “How Bad Can I Be?” from The Lorax movie. This was followed by a concert on the second stage by Lovedwell and a performance by Edgewood Intermediate, Junior High and High School choirs.
Nestled in the large flea market tent in the center of the festival was the local candle business Soyme Gifts. Coming from the word “soy” in Spanish, meaning “I am”, and the English “me,” owner Patty Reyes-Cooksey said Soyme Gifts is not just about candles, but embracing who you are.
Reyes-Cooksey, a staff member at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, started Soyme Gifts with her daughter around five years ago to help with the grief of her mother’s death.
“One day, I went into a department store and I was about to purchase a candle, and I heard my mom’s voice in my head saying, ‘Why are you buying that when you can make it?’” Reyes-Cooksey said.
Reyes-Cooksey makes all the candles by hand in her home up the road. This is Reyes-Cooksey's third time selling at the Fall Festival, but she said she has been a long-time fan of the festival since moving to Monroe County 23 years ago. She said she loves when people come back to shop again and again, getting hooked on the scents.
Another vendor returning for the third time this year is The Cookie Box, a local food truck that sells cookies, brownies and seasonal drinks.
Heidi Baynes said the idea for a cookie truck came from her business partner’s husband, who thought people at fairs were missing a cookie option. The Cookie Box also sells their treats at IU football games and events in surrounding counties. Their menu includes traditional items such as chocolate chip cookies and brownies, with seasonal slushies and drinks. For fall, the menu features an apple cider slushie.
“It’s fun to be out in the community and seeing all our friends and family that come through,” Baynes said. “I also just like working here with my kids, and my family and my friends.”
The Fall Festival Parade will start from the Edgewood High School front parking lot at 10 a.m. Saturday. A Saturday only event, visitors can watch three Grandstand Circus Shows starting at 12:30 p.m.
