Audacious autumn: Squirrel cookoff, Elktober, purple feet

Looking for something more exciting than pumpkin spice, Oktoberfests and leaf-peeping to shake up your plans this fall?

Consider adding one of these audacious autumnal experiences to your calendar: a squirrel cookoff in Arkansas, ukulele festival in Florida, caterpillar races in North Carolina or the annual wife-carrying contest in Maine. For the month of Elktober, you'll find randy elks bugling their mating calls in Colorado. Or perhaps you’d like to turn your feet purple at a winery grapestomping event.

Here’s a random sample of fall fun around the country from classics to events that are just a little bit wacky. ___ YUMMY YUMMY World Championship Squirrel Cook Off, 8th Street Market, Bentonville, Arkansas, Sept. 16, www.squirrelcookoff.com/

Whoopie Pie Festival, Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn, Strasburg, Pennsylvania, Sept. 9, www.whoopiepiefestival.com/

Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Sept. 27-Oct. 1, www.santafewineandchile.org/

Wild Mushroom Celebration, Long Beach Peninsula, Washington, Oct. 1Nov. 15, www.wildmushroomcelebration.com

Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bardstown, Kentucky, Sept. 11-17, www.kybourbonfestival.com/

World Chicken Festival, London, Kentucky, Sept. 21-24, chickenfestival.com/ (celebrates Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders, featuring chicken fried in the world’s largest skillet)

National Shrimp Festival, Gulf Shores, Alabama, Oct. 12-15, www.myshrimpfest.com/

Truck Stop Food Truck Rally, Welton Street, Denver, Sept. 30, www.truckstoprally.com/

PA Bacon Fest, Easton, Pennsylvania, Nov. 4-5, www.pabaconfest.com/ ___ CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL Woolly Worm Festival, Banner Elk, North Carolina, Oct. 21-22, www.woollyworm.com/ (two days of races featuring more than 2,000 woolly bear caterpillars)

Narrowsburg Honey Bee Fest, Narrowsburg, New York, Sept. 23, www.narrowsburghoneybeefest.com/

Estes Park Elk Fest, Estes Park, Colorado, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, www.colorado.com/events/estes-park-elk-fest

Alpaca Festival, Buck Brook Alpaca Farm, Roscoe, New York, Sept. 23, www.sullivancatskills.com/event/natio nal-alpaca-day-festival/

Buffalo Roundup, Custer State Park, South Dakota, Sept. 29, www.gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/events/buffaloroundup/default.aspx

Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium, Springfield, Missouri, opening Sept. 21, www.wondersofwildlife.org/

Trailing of the Sheep Festival, Ketchum and Hailey, Idaho, Oct. 4-8, www.trailingofthesheep.org/ (includes parade of 1,500 sheep) ___ WACKY AND WONDERFUL American Wife Carrying Championship, Sunday River Resort, Newry, Maine, Oct. 7, www.sundayriver.com/events-and-activities/eventscalendar/north-american-wife-carrying-championship

Strummin’ Man Ukulele Festival, Panama City, Florida, Oct. 13-15, www.standrewsukes.org/

Purple Foot Festival, Casa Larga Vineyards, Fairport, New York, Sept. 17, www.casalarga.com/events/purplefoot-festival/ (grape stomping)

Susan B. Anthony corn maze, Stokoe Farms, Scottsville, New York, opening Sept. 23, www.kfdm.com/news/offbeat/corn-maze-at-stokoe-farms-honours-susan-b-anthony (maze depicts Anthony, the women’s rights activist who lived in nearby Rochester, honouring 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote in New York)

Return of the Pumpkin People, Jackson, New Hampshire, throughout October, www.jacksonnh.com/event/1233/Return-of-the-PumpkinPeople (displays of pumpkins dressed as people)

Pumpkin Nights, in Twin Cities, Minnesota; Auburn, California, and Salt Lake City, Oct. 13-Oct. 29 , www.pumpkinnights.com / (walking trail featuring hundreds of handcarved, lit-up pumpkins)

Appalachian Mural Trail, towns along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia, www.muraltrail.com (murals tell stories of communities along the parkway) ___ CLASSICS Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, Cincinnati, Sept. 15-17, www.oktoberfestzinzinnati.co m/

Great Vermont Corn Maze, Danville, Vermont, open through Oct. 15. www.vermontcornmaze.com (recommended arrival before 1 p.m. to get through massive, complex maze)

Cranberry festivals: Warrens, Wisconsin, Sept. 22-24, www.cranfest.com/ , and Wareham, Massachusetts, Oct. 7-8, http://admakepeace.com/events_tours_functions/calendar_of _events/ cranberry_ harvest_ celebration_-_october _7_8

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct. 7-15, www.balloonfiesta.com/

National Crafts & Cowboy Festival, Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri, Sept. 13Oct. 28, www.silverdollarcity.com/theme-park/Festivals/ NationalHarvest-Festival

Circleville Pumpkin Show, Circleville, Ohio, Oct. 18-21, www.pumpkinshow.com/

Bridge Day, New River Gorge, West Virginia, Oct. 21, www.officialbridgeday.com/ (participants leap, float and rappel from bridge)

Cruisin' the Coast, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Oct. 18, www.cruisinthecoast.com/ (antique and classic cars)

(AP PHOTOS/ROBERT F. BUKATY, KRISTINA BARKER)

Left: In this file photo, Jessica Keefe, celebrates after her husband, Michael Keefe, of Madbury, N.H., made it through the mud pit during the North American Wife Carrying Championship at the Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine. The annual...