The 43rd annual Cole County Fall Festival this weekend will feature more vendors than ever before and help put Mid-Missourians in the fall spirit.
Hosted by the University of Missouri Extension Center in Cole County, the festival will run 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at the Jefferson City Jaycees Fairgrounds, 1445 Fairgrounds Road.
Admission costs $3 for those 13 and older.
The festival will feature 160 vendors this year, a slight increase from the usual 150.
"We're growing to provide that assortment of different kinds of high-quality crafts that the public would like to see," said Lynda Zimmerman, county engagement specialist in nutrition and health.
Vendors will sell woodwork, metal artwork, photography, spa products, home decor and several other items. There are new crafts every year, too.
Between the wide variety of items and the quality of crafts, Zimmerman said, people keep coming back to the fall festival year after year.
"It's become a tradition with many families where they have three generations that come and see what neat things they can find," she said.
The festival is the Extension Center's only fundraiser, Zimmerman said. The funds will go to the MU Extension Center in Cole County to help pay expenses for events and programs in areas like 4-H, agriculture and natural resources, horticulture, and nutrition and health programs.