37th Annual Covered Bridge Festival Returns

ELYSBURG – This week, the ever-popular Covered Bridge & Arts Festival returns to Knoebels Amusement Resort. The event is organized by the Columbia Montour Visitors Bureau, and celebrates the region’s beloved covered bridges in a four-day extravaganza. This year’s festival will feature more than 400 crafters and over 35 food vendors.  As it is one of the largest craft festivals in the state, visitors can expect to spend a full day exploring the park and vendors. You won’t go home empty-handed! The fun kicks off Thursday, October 4th at 10 AM and runs through Sunday, October 7th at 5 PM. Choose from traditional and handmade crafts, carved woods, metalwork, glass, prints, sewn and woven textiles, soaps, jewelry, photography, paintings, décor for every holiday, new and re-purposed primitives, and much more. As the holiday season is right around the corner, the Covered Bridge & Arts Festival is the ideal place to complete your seasonal gift shopping.

At the same time, attendees can enjoy full access to the amusement park. On Thursday and Friday of the festival, select kiddie and family rides will be open. On Saturday and Sunday, all rides in the park will be open for guests.  The Covered Bridge & Arts Festival makes the traditional excitement of spending the day at Knoebels that much better with the special wooded fall setting, old-fashioned rides, tasty seasonal treats, arts & crafts, live entertainment, demonstrations, animals, and more. The festival has no entrance fee and offers free parking, but ride tickets are required if you wish to ride any of the rides during your visit.

The counties offer plenty of lodging accommodations that will be perfect for a fall visit during the festival.  There are over a dozen bed & breakfast options as well as a number of hotels, motels, and even campgrounds.

Interested visitors with questions may contact the Visitors Bureau by calling 1-800-847-4810.

Please visit the official Covered Bridge & Arts Festival page for more information. The festival brochure will be available for download, along with an interactive vendor map, list of vendors, ride and parking info, and much more.

The Columbia Montour Visitors Bureau believes that tourism is critical to the economic well-being of the region and will continue to market, promote and support our local communities.  In recent years, the tourism industry generated $4.4 billion in state and local taxes.  Tourism benefits all Pennsylvanians… a successful tourism industry generates enough taxes for the Commonwealth’s budget to reduce the tax liability of each household by $855 each year.