by sherry devlin
photos by kurt wilson and linda thompson

Fall may be Missoula’s best-kept secret. The golden air, sprinkled with lightly falling leaves. The long and balmy afternoons. The laughter and loudness of Griz football Saturdays.

There are apples and apricots and plums to be picked in backyard groves, cider to be pressed. School books to stuff into backpacks. Schedules to stuff with soccer and volleyball games, back-to-school nights and PTA meetings.

Backyard trails on Missoula’s wrap-around hillsides are less crowded now, but more glorious than ever. Venture outside of town and the possibilities are endless: Fall is good to us here in western Montana.

We couldn’t possibly list all our favorite comings and goings of fall, but we did want to give you a little starter list – five not-to-be-missed fall events to get you on your way. The rest is, happily, up to you!

University of Montana Homecoming

Some of my favorite memories of fall revolve around the University of Montana Homecoming parade: marching along Higgins Avenue with the Cub Scouts, collecting great gobs of candy with the Brownies, cheering on the ever-unpredictable Red Wave middle-school band, waving to friends on floats and politicians on the stump, the piles of leaves and throngs of parade-watchers along University Avenue.

And the football game: a perfect fall afternoon – sunny skies more times than not, warm and beautiful colors, great football, awesome fans.
This year, UM’s Homecoming events run from Sept. 25 through Saturday, Oct. 1. The fun starts with a pep rally at Southgate Mall from 1-3 p.m. on the 25th, and continues through the week with all manner of open houses, receptions, more pep rallies, socials and dances.

The Class of 1971 is meeting for a reunion, distinguished alumni will be feted, runners will compete in a Homecoming Hustle 5K race early Saturday, just as tailgaters light the first barbecue grills. The parade, as always, begins downtown at 10 a.m., followed by the football game at 1:05 p.m.

This year’s Homecoming opponent: the Northern Colorado Bears. Grizzlies vs. Bears. Sounds like a lot of growling!

Humanities Montana Festival of the Book

My dad used to tease that I was “a poet but didn’t know it.”

I wish.

In fact, I am a lover of poetry and have been as far back as I can remember, beginning with a beautiful volume of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses,” handed down from my mother. So, too, am I a lover of stories: fiction, non-fiction, spoken and sung and written across the pages of books and newspapers and magazines.
Which is how I found my way, many years ago now, to the Montana Festival of the Book, one of the most revered rituals of fall in Missoula.

Ever a writer’s town, Missoula gives itself over to the written word and its most gifted practitioners on festival week, an artful arrangement of readings and workshops that is the love and work of Kim Anderson at Humanities Montana.

This year’s edition is set for Oct. 6-8, and will likely include authors Thomas McGuane, Mary Clearman Blew, Rick Bass, James Lee Burke, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Jonathan Evison and Alan Heathcock and ... well, 75 writers are on the list of presenters.

This year, in addition to the book fest’s events, Humanities Montana is partnering with the Western Literature Association, which will present its annual conference in conjunction with the festival, Oct. 5-7. Normally closed to the public, the literature association is going to open the doors during its Missoula get-together – a real treat for Festival of the Book participants.

For more information, including a full schedule of events, go to http://www.humanitiesmontana.org.

Stevensville Scarecrow Festival

A few Octobers ago, Peter Pan welcomed visitors to town. A very old, scary, decidedly brittle Peter Pan. Those brave enough to continue on quickly came upon a giant crow devouring a man in a wheelbarrow. And a frightening, straw-filled rainbow trout. And a super scary waitress-witch presiding over a favorite downtown cafe.

Stevensville’s annual Scarecrow Festival, the wicked brainchild of the Stevensville Art and Sculpture Society, is delightfully frightful – and a must-do of fall in the Bitterroot Valley.

The scarecrows appear on the first Friday and Saturday in October – Oct. 7 and 8 this year, as part of downtown Stevensville’s First Friday festivities. Besides the incredible scarecrows, you’ll find pumpkin-carving contests, horse-drawn wagon rides, open houses, music, refreshments and a lot of good old-fashioned hospitality.

More information is available by going online to www.mainstreetstevensville.com.

As for the scarecrows, they’ll be judged by both a juried panel and the public. If they dare ...

Montana CINE Film Festival

Autumn is, after all, the season of back-to-school, back-to-studies – back to engaging our brains. So it is fitting that the Montana CINE Film Festival brings its educational offerings to Missoula this Oct. 17-23. Food for thought in the season of learning.

In its eighth year, the festival was established as a cinema event that brings understanding and perspective to critical global issues: cultural, social, political and environmental.
This year, the festival has added a co-sponsor: the University of Montana’s International Programs. Also new will be the participation of several Russian scientists and filmmakers, and an attendant collection of thought-provoking Russian films.

Another buzz at this year’s festival, which has as its home Missoula’s historic Roxy Theatre, will be the film “Cultures of Resistance.” Can music and dance be weapons of peace? Filmmaker Lara Lee found the answer after traveling across five continents torn by violence.

In addition to film screenings, the CINE Film Festival includes daily and evening roundtables, seminars, Q&A sessions with filmmakers, receptions, a preview party and a benefit event.

For more information, go online to www.wildlifefilms.org.

Missoula Festival of the Dead

The night of Nov. 2 will mark Missoula’s 19th Festival of the Dead parade, an eclectic and artistic celebration honoring life and death – and inspired by the Spanish Dia de los Muertos.

Thousands of spectators (and skeletons) line Higgins Avenue in downtown Missoula for the passing of enormous bony puppets, University of Montana art students showing off huge steamroller prints, performance artists, skateboarders and the occasional accordion-playing skeleton.

There is music and drumming, dogs (this is Missoula, after all!), fish bones and human bones, photographs and shrines to the beloved departed, and a grim-reaper grand marshal.

One year, I watched the eerie procession in the rain. From inside my car. With the windshield wipers going and a hot cup of coffee steaming the windows. Somehow it seemed the perfect vantage, although I’d advise standing a little closer in quieter weather, lest you miss the full effect of the hoots and howls – and the jangling of bones.

“We celebrate life every other day,” said a spectator that dark and rainy night a few years back. “This is a day to honor the people who came before us – and celebrate life.”

The festivities begin after dark on Nov. 2. For more information, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (406) 549-7933.

Sherry Devlin is editor of the Missoulian and Missoula magazine. She can be reached at (406) 523-5250 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .