How Centerville's fall festival is attracting folks from across the region

Megan Raposa -

This is a paid piece from the Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

Simplified: Centerville's annual Fall-O-Ween festival started in 2021 as a way to bring businesses and the community together. Now, the annual event brings thousands of people to the small town southwest of Sioux Falls.

Why it matters

  • Last year's Fall-O-Ween nearly tripled Centerville's population with 3,500 visitors.
  • The town closes five blocks of downtown for the event, which features live music, food trucks, inflatables, games, face painting and a vendor fair with more than 50 vendors.
  • The early success of Fall-O-Ween also led the downtown group of business owners to form their own nonprofit – the Centerville Festival Committee – to fundraise and work on this and other community events.
"It's a community event for the locals, but it also brings people within the region to our community to showcase Centerville and what we have to offer," said Jared Hybertson, executive director of the Centerville Development Corporation and president of the Centerville Chamber of Commerce.

Tell me more about the event

This year's Fall-O-Ween will take place from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19.

  • In addition to the vendor fair, several local retailers will be open as well.

The event will also feature:

  • eight different food trucks,
  • three different live musical performances,
  • inflatables,
  • a barrel train,
  • an obstacle course,
  • a petting zoo,
  • hay rides,
  • kid games,
  • a corn pit,
  • face painting,
  • a princess meet & greet,
  • balloon animals,
  • kid karaoke,
  • photo opportunities,
  • and a haunted house put on by the After Prom Committee.
"We really feel that this is turning into the premier one-day fall festival event in our region," Hybertson said.

Follow the Facebook event for updates and more details.