COSHOCTON − One might think of the summer as prime tourism time, but visitors to Coshocton County remain strong through the fall thanks to many established events.

The Coshocton Visitors Bureau reported tourism had more than $62.6 million economic impact in 2021 related to attractions, food and beverages, gas and lodging, with $8.3 million in tax revenue. That also connects to 752 jobs and $16.4 million in wages.

Kara McIntire, social media coordinator for the CVB, said this is the first year they've had someone from all 88 counties in Ohio come into their office in Roscoe Village since keeping track. They've also had visitors from 43 states and 16 countries so far in 2022.

While the summer is prime time for tourism, the fall is almost as active, McIntire said.

"Everybody loves Coshocton County in the fall, because it's so beautiful," she said. "Fall is a very busy time for tourism in Coshocton."

There's a lot of fall activities that bring people into the region, McIntire said, and people don't always think about such as sports tournaments at Kids America, Coshocton County usually leads Ohio in whitetail deer hunting, the Coshocton Ring Trail for geo-caching that launched over the summer and the Three Rivers Wine Trail highlighting wineries and breweries in the area.

However, there are many annual events that bring people in year after year. Roscoe Village hosts two of the most notable annual fall to early winter events with the Apple Butter Stirrin' Festival in October and Christmas Candle Lightings in December. Of course, the Coshocton County Fair is the biggest activity of the fall that brings in many from outside the county, not just locals. This year's fair is Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, with livestock shows, grandstand entertainment, rides, games and more.

Other events upcoming include the Fall Festival with corn maze at Coshocton KOA Campgrounds, the self-driving fall farm and foliage tour, Oktoberfest at Wooly Pig Farm Brewery, Lake Park Big Band fall harvest dance and live nativity drive-thru at Coshocton Christian Tabernacle.

A list of upcoming events:

Fall Festival at Coshocton KOA, 24688 County Road 10, with related events run September and October. The beer maze with a beer tasting, live music and food is Sept. 10. The Wine Your Way Out event with wine tastings is Sept. 16 to 18, 23 to 25 and 30 to Oct. 2. The Fall Festival is on Saturday Oct. 8 to 29 and features live music, food trucks, craft vendors, corn maze, pumpkins for sale, corn box and more.

The Lake Park Big Band will have a fall harvest dance from 8 to 11 p.m. Sept. 17 at Lake Park Pavilion, 23253 Ohio 83. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are available at the door for $15. Bring your own snacks and beverages. Call the Lake Park office at 740-622-7528 for more information or go to coshoctonlakepark.com.

The Coshocton County Fair will be from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds, 707 Kenilworth Ave. General admission is $15 per day with ages 2 and under free. Seniors and veterans are $7. Grandstand entertainment includes truck and tractor pulls at 7 p.m. Friday and Monday, demolition derby at 7 p.m. Saturday, Bullmania at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, auto cross at 7 p.m. Tuesday, rough truck at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and moto cross racing at 7 p.m. Thursday. For more information, go to coshoctoncountyfair.org.

Oktoberfest will be Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at Wooly Pig Farm Brewery, 23631 Township Road 167, Fresno. The event will feature tapping of a a Festbier keg from Holzfass at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Backwoods BBQ food truck, brezel necklace craft and other activities, people dressed in traditional German garb and more. Go to woolypigfarmbrewery.com for more information.

A fall festival will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in October at Schumaker Farms, 52441 County Road 16, West Lafayette. The event will feature hayrides to a pumpkin patch, corn and straw mazes, games, corn bin, kid's zipline, disc golf, food, animals and more. Cost is $10 with children age 2 and under free. Go to schumakerfarms.com or call 740-622-8915 for more information.

The Apple Butter Stirrin' Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 21 and 22 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 23 throughout Roscoe Village. Online tickets are $5 and $8 at the gate with entrance into the living history buildings and parking is free. Go to roscoevillage.com for more information. The festival features homemade apple butter, live music, crafts for kids, crafts and food vendors, tours of the village and more.

The self-driving fall farm and foliage tour will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 22 and noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 23 with maps available at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds. The tour is a mystery this year with locations announced opening day of the tour. Go to coshocton.osu.edu for more information.

Coshocton Halloweekend is still being planned by Our Town Coshocton and Roscoe Village Business Association for Oct. 28 to 30 with details to be announced. It will feature a pub crawl, shopping and more.

The annual Christmas Candle Lighting Ceremony will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 3 and 10 in Roscoe Village. Activities start at 10 a.m. both days with holiday shopping and village tours. The lighting of the 35-foot tree will include music, a special story and lighting of candles by those in attendance. Go to roscoevillage.com for more information.

A free live drive-thru nativity presenting the life of Jesus Chris will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Dec. 9 and 10 at the Coshocton Christian Tabernacle, 23891 Airport Road.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.