Livingston County Kentucky Hunters Moon Fall Festival

On the second Saturday of October, Grand Rivers in Livingston County, Kentucky hands its streets over to a fall celebration that the town tourism body calls “Grand Rivers oldest tradition & festival”. A festival guide layer prints the name as Hunters Moon Fall Festival, which is the sheet form behind this article, while the organiser’s own festival page and the town calendar both use the shorter Hunter’s Moon Festival. The billing on the organiser’s page for the most fully documented edition reads 50th Annual Hunter’s Moon Festival. Those three forms are carried here exactly as each layer prints them, side by side and unmerged, because the record itself never settles on one spelling. What the layers agree on is the shape of the day: vendors spread across town, a parade in the early afternoon, a silent auction, family activities and live music, all presented by the Grand Rivers Chamber of Commerce.

About

The festival belongs to Grand Rivers, a small town in Livingston County in western Kentucky. Grand Rivers does not hold the county seat; encyclopedia and reference layers name Smithland as the seat of Livingston County, and the distinction matters because the festival’s identity is tied to this one town rather than to any county institution. The Grand Rivers Chamber of Commerce presents the festival, according to the organiser’s own page, and a chamber newsletter layer carries the same event with matching particulars, which gives the record an organiser side as well as listings written by others.

Unlike a fair confined to a single ground, this celebration is threaded throughout Grand Rivers. The organiser’s own festival page places vendors across town, sends the parade down JH O’Bryan Avenue, puts the stage at Little Lake Park, and sets the silent auction beside the Chamber office. The town calendar fixes the event to the second Saturday of October, and every dated layer behind this article fits that rule: the eighth of October two thousand twenty-two, Saturday the eleventh of October two thousand twenty-five, and Saturday the tenth of October two thousand twenty-six are each the second Saturday of their month. The record is a solid one, because the organiser’s own page documents the two thousand twenty-six edition in full detail, and dated layers for two thousand twenty-five and two thousand twenty-two stand behind it.

Quick Facts

Item	Detail
Name forms in print	Hunters Moon Fall Festival; Hunter’s Moon Festival
Billing on the organiser’s page	50th Annual Hunter’s Moon Festival
Host town	Grand Rivers, Livingston County, Kentucky
County seat	Smithland; Grand Rivers is not the seat
Presented by	Grand Rivers Chamber of Commerce
Fixed point in the year	The second Saturday of October
Fullest documented edition	Saturday, the tenth of October two thousand twenty-six
Where it unfolds	Throughout Grand Rivers, with the stage at Little Lake Park
Parade route	JH O’Bryan Avenue, at two in the afternoon
Gate admission	No charge for entry is stated in the layers read

History

The deepest claim the record makes about age comes from the town tourism body, which calls the festival “Grand Rivers oldest tradition & festival”. That is a characterisation, printed as the tourism body prints it, and it is the closest thing to an origin statement anywhere in the layers read. Beyond it stand billings. A resort guide layer bills the edition of the eighth of October two thousand twenty-two as the 46th annual, and the organiser’s page bills the edition of Saturday the tenth of October two thousand twenty-six as the 50th Annual Hunter’s Moon Festival. Both figures are recorded here exactly as printed. Neither is turned into a founding year anywhere in this article, because billing arithmetic is not a founding account, and the layers offer no narrative of a first gathering, no founding names and no early programme to build one from. The two billings sit four years apart, and the space between them is consistent with an unbroken run of Octobers, but consistency is all the record supports, and it is not treated here as proof of any particular first edition.

What the dated trail does show is continuity of form. The two thousand twenty-two resort guide layer describes a festival market running from nine in the morning to seven in the evening, a parade at two in the afternoon and an evening street dance. A regional tourism newsletter layer covering Saturday the eleventh of October two thousand twenty-five lists retail and craft vendors, food vendors, games, activities, rides, a parade, live entertainment and a street dance. The organiser’s own page for two thousand twenty-six then sets out the fullest timetable of all, with a silent auction and judged parade added to the familiar mix. Read together, the layers describe a town festival that has kept its broad outline across at least three documented editions while its published detail has grown richer.

For a useful comparison, see the Livingston County Kentucky Bluegrass, Brew and BBQ Fest Festival for another county festival.

What to Expect

The fullest picture of the day comes from the organiser’s own festival page for Saturday, the tenth of October two thousand twenty-six, and a chamber newsletter layer repeats the same particulars. Over one hundred craft, retail and food vendors were set out across town from nine in the morning to six in the evening. Family activities ran from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon. The silent auction, held beside the Chamber office, took bids from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon. Live music closed the published schedule at the Little Lake Park stage, from three to six in the afternoon.

The parade is the day’s centrepiece. On the organiser’s page it steps off at two in the afternoon on JH O’Bryan Avenue, under the printed theme “250 Years of America the Beautiful”, with line-up from noon and judging at quarter past one in the afternoon. The theme is carried here exactly as the organiser prints it. A grand marshal is named for the parade on the organiser’s page; the name belongs to that page, and this article refers to the role rather than repeating the person, since the honour is the documented fact. Earlier editions fill in the edges of the picture: the two thousand twenty-five newsletter layer adds games, activities, rides and a street dance to the day, and the two thousand twenty-two resort guide layer likewise ends its account with an evening street dance, so dancing after dark belongs to the festival’s documented habits even where the two thousand twenty-six timetable lists music alone.

Planning Your Visit

The second Saturday of October is the anchor, and the town calendar states it outright, so the first planning step is simply to hold that day. The two thousand twenty-six timetable rewards an early start: vendors open at nine in the morning, the silent auction runs only until three in the afternoon, and family activities finish at two, so a late arrival quietly loses half the programme. Anyone set on the parade should be near JH O’Bryan Avenue before two in the afternoon, and anyone entering it should know that line-up begins at noon with judging at quarter past one.

Money questions need care. No gate admission is stated in the layers read, and this article takes no position on whether entry is charged, because the organiser’s page simply does not print one. Festival shirts are priced on that page, but shirts are merchandise, not admission, and no prices are reproduced here. The Chamber’s street and postal address appears on the organiser’s page, and those contact details are noted for their existence only; a reader who needs certainty about entry, vending or parade entry should go to the organiser’s own page rather than rely on any summary. Because the festival spreads throughout town instead of sitting behind one gate, the practical shape of a visit is a walking one, moving between vendor rows, the auction beside the Chamber office and the stage at Little Lake Park.

A Sample Itinerary

Arrive as the vendors open at nine in the morning and walk the craft, retail and food rows while the town is still quiet. Put in a bid at the silent auction beside the Chamber office during the morning, since bidding closes at three in the afternoon. Give the middle of the day to the family activities, which run from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon. Watch the parade entries gather from noon if spectacle before the spectacle appeals, then take a place on JH O’Bryan Avenue for the parade itself at two, with judging already settled at quarter past one. Check the auction result before three, eat from the food vendors, and finish at the Little Lake Park stage, where live music runs from three to six in the afternoon.

How It Compares

Grand Rivers keeps a busy calendar, and the town’s other named celebrations help show what this one is not. The Labor Day Arts & Crafts Festival belongs to early September and the Bluegrass, Brew & BBQ Festival to spring; both sit on the same town calendar as separate events, and nothing from their programmes is imported here. The Hunters Moon celebration differs in texture from a park based craft fair because so much of it happens in the open town: the parade takes a named avenue, the auction sits beside the Chamber office, and only the music is anchored to the Little Lake Park stage. Across its own documented years, the festival also reads as steadier than most: the second Saturday rule holds in every dated layer, and the same elements of market, parade, music and dancing recur from two thousand twenty-two through two thousand twenty-six.

A Visitor’s Checklist

• Hold the second Saturday of October, the day the town calendar fixes for the festival.
• Reach town by nine in the morning to catch the vendor rows at their fullest.
• Place silent auction bids early, because the auction closes at three in the afternoon.
• Bring children before two in the afternoon, when the family activities end.
• Find a spot on JH O’Bryan Avenue ahead of the two o’clock parade.
• Keep the late afternoon free for live music at the Little Lake Park stage, from three to six.
• Check the organiser’s own page directly for entry details, since no gate charge is stated in the layers read.

Beyond the Festival

A visit built around this single Saturday can stretch a little further without inventing anything. The town calendar that fixes this festival also carries the rest of Grand Rivers’ year, and a traveller already in Livingston County can look there for what else the town itself publishes. Smithland, the county seat named by the reference layers, is the other pole of county life, and the contrast between the seat and this small festival town is part of the county’s geography. The Chamber’s own page remains the practical doorway for questions the record leaves open, from vending to parade entry, because its contact details are printed there even though they are not reproduced in this article.

Why It Matters

The significance of the day rests on how the town itself frames it. A tourism body does not call an event its oldest tradition lightly, and the fiftieth billing on the organiser’s page for two thousand twenty-six underlines the same point from another direction. Just as telling is the festival’s shape: a judged parade on a named avenue, an auction beside the Chamber office, activities aimed at families and vendors drawn from craft, retail and food trades together describe a celebration run by the town’s own business community for the whole town, rather than a show imported for spectators. In a county whose seat lies elsewhere, Grand Rivers keeps its own anchor in the year, and this festival is it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the festival appear under more than one name?

The layers print more than one. A festival guide layer gives Hunters Moon Fall Festival, the organiser’s own festival page and the town calendar give Hunter’s Moon Festival, and the organiser’s billing for the fullest documented edition gives 50th Annual Hunter’s Moon Festival. This article keeps the forms unmerged, exactly as each source prints them.

What fills the hours of the festival day?

On the organiser’s two thousand twenty-six timetable, over one hundred craft, retail and food vendors trade from nine in the morning to six in the evening, family activities run from ten to two, the silent auction takes bids from nine until three, the parade steps off at two, and live music plays at the Little Lake Park stage from three to six.

Does the record put a price on entry?

The layers read for this article state no gate admission at all, so no charge is asserted and none is ruled out. The only prices attached to the organiser’s page concern festival shirts, which are merchandise rather than entry, and their values are not reproduced here.

Who stands behind the festival?

The Grand Rivers Chamber of Commerce presents it, according to the organiser’s own festival page, and a chamber newsletter layer carries the same event with the same particulars. The Chamber’s street and postal address is printed on that page, noted here for existence only.

What to Expect From the Next Livingston County Kentucky Hunters Moon Fall Festival

How often is Livingston County Kentucky Hunters Moon Fall Festival held?

The town calendar fixes the festival to the second Saturday of October, and the dated layers behind this article show editions on that rule in two thousand twenty-two, two thousand twenty-five and two thousand twenty-six. The pattern the record supports is a single October Saturday each year, pinned to the calendar rather than to a fixed date.

When is the next Livingston County Kentucky Hunters Moon Fall Festival?

After the edition of Saturday, the tenth of October two thousand twenty-six, the town calendar’s own rule points to the second Saturday of October in the following year. A confirmed date, theme and timetable would appear on the organiser’s own festival page, which is where the two thousand twenty-six particulars were published.

Will the dates change?

Every dated layer read for this article lands on the second Saturday of October, across three editions spanning four years, so the rule looks settled. Only the organiser can confirm a future year, though, and this article treats the calendar statement as the standing arrangement rather than a guarantee.

Closing

For one Saturday each October, Grand Rivers turns itself into the venue: its avenue carries the parade, its park carries the music, and its Chamber office anchors the auction. The record behind the Hunters Moon Fall Festival is unusually tidy for a small town event, with an organiser’s page that sets out the day hour by hour, and what it documents is a festival woven into the town rather than staged apart from it.