Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Minnesota has a full menu of fall festivals for different age groups and interests. The types include pumpkin festivals, farmers market festivals and apple celebration events. Adults will enjoy the Grape Stomp and Fall Festival on the third weekend of September at the Carlos Creek Winery. The event -- in Alexandria in the western part of the state -- has several live bands, wine tasting and comedians. Kids will enjoy the annual Boo at the Zoo at Duluth's Lake Superior Zoo in the southeastern part of the state near the Wisconsin border. The October event includes a costume contest, a haunted hayride and trick-or-treating.
Oktoberfests are a fall tradition across the world. Minnesota has its share of the events that celebrate German culture. The Minneapolis Oktoberfest -- which takes place in September -- has traditional German music, food, beer and polka dancing on the Mississippi River waterfront in the eastern part of the state. The Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge Oktoberfest includes golf, an arts and craft fair and family polka dancing. The lodge is in Deerwood in central Minnesota.
Runners can take advantage of the cool fall air by competing in a range of racing events throughout the state. Ultra endurance runners flock to the Superior Hiking Trail for 100-mile and 50-mile races in September. The Moose Mountain Marathon -- at the typical marathon distance of 26 miles -- also takes place on the trail in the northeastern part of the state off Lake Superior. Families and runners of all levels can attend the Walker North Country Races in north-central Minnesota. The event includes a marathon, half marathon, a 10K run and walk, a kids' fun run and a two-person marathon relay. The races occur in mid-September.
Veterans Day has been a federal holiday honoring members of the U.S. Armed Forces since 1954. It's celebrated every Nov. 11, the date of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I in 1918. Cities across Minnesota pay homage to veterans. The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs holds an annual recognition day that features politicians in Inver Grove Heights in the southeastern part of the state. Other events feature military bands, bagpipe players and a three-volley salute, which is a ceremonial act in which military members shoot blank cartridges into the air.