The Fall 2022 issue of Food & Dining Magazine (#75) is now available in all the familiar places: Louisville area eateries and food shops, newsstands and online. Go here for a preview of the features, profiles and columns, with links to the new edition at issuu.
Harvest Homecoming is like a tail that wags New Albany’s civic dog, and while the 53-year-old annual festival promotes numerous events throughout the city, in the minds of the fest-going public it’s all about “booth days,” when streets are closed in the epicenter of downtown and throngs descend to patronize booths occupied by a diverse array of vendors, with those of the edible and potable variety usually the most avidly discussed.
Booth days begin on Thursday 6 October and run through Sunday 9 October.
The past decade has seen a gradual but very real evolution in the festival, as impelled by the rejuvenation of downtown New Albany. For decades there was little in the way of commercial presence for Harvest Homecoming to displace during booth days. Nowadays there are eateries, bars and retail shops, and so thinking “behind the booths” has become as important a mantra as the wares being displayed between the curbs.
Food remains an enduring focus of Harvest Homecoming; after all, “harvest” never was meant to imply silkworms or lumbering.
When the event was young, the sort of roving victuals purveyor common to small fairs and celebrations was almost unknown. Churches, social clubs and civic organizations prepared Southern Indiana staples — doughnuts, fire …
