Labor day may be the last official weekend of summer, but the sun doesn’t officially set on the season until the end of September. You might not be taking that week off work, but don’t let all those “back to school” ads and serious faces fool you; there’s plenty of partying going on in this month of secret summer. Here are five of our picks of what to do in September.
1—Canadian Beer Festivals
Great Canadian Beer Festival, Victoria, BC, September, 5-6
Toronto Beer Week, Toronto, Ontario, September, 12-20
Canadians love to brag about their brawny beer, so go flex your drinking muscle; two of our northerly neighbor’s best beer weeks happen in September. The Great Canadian Beer Festival in Victoria, BC, a three-hour ferry ride from Seattle, features some of this province’s best hops-y concoctions, and Toronto Beer Week is an eight day celebration featuring Canada’s best craft beer.
2—Philly Fringe Festival
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September, 5-21
From across the globe, experimental theater, music, arts and dance descend upon Philly for the 18th time in what has grown to be one of the most preeminent spectacles of underground creativity. It collides with this town’s revered restaurant scene on Thursday, September 18th when “Feastival” takes over Penn’s Landing waterfront in a culinary benefit to support Philly’s Fringe.
3—Bacon Fest
Savannah, Georgia
September, 5-6
Savannah will be sizzling this September while the city’s most sought after restaurants line Rousakis Riverfront Plaza with booths filled with mouthwatering bacon creations all weekend long. As if that’s not enough of a motivator to come to Georgia’s oldest city, it’s also a great time to walk off the calories beneath the shade of her Spanish moss-covered oak trees, or extend your summer for one more week—Tybee Island, a half hour drive away, is full of jet skiing, kayaking, canoeing, biking and beaches.
4—Farm Aid 2014
Raleigh, North Carolina
September 13
Jack White will bring his commanding chords to the masses of country and bluegrass music fans at this year’s Farm Aid along with regulars (and Farm Aid board members) Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Cougar. It’s the longest running benefit concert series in the United States, happening every year since 1985. If you want restaurants to keep supplying great family-run (not corporate operated) farm to fork feasts, it’s the most festive way to do your part. Tickets are between $49-$175.
5—Feast
Portland, Oregon
September, 18-21
Portland’s penchant for incredible eats gets showcased in this Bon Appétit-sponsored event, which has become one of the country’s most buzzed about food festivals in just three years of existence. New this year are a specific brunch event on the 21st and an expanded Friday Night Farmer’s Market that’s now on a 26-acre lot on the South Waterfront. But the most anticipated event is the Hot 10 Dinner, that will celebrate chefs from Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants of 2013 list. Proceeds from tickets help feed impoverished children.
6—Dew Tour, City Championships
Brooklyn, New York
September, 20-21
This is the first time the favorite, 10-year-old extreme sporting event will stop in the Big Apple, and it will give BMX and skate competitors some of the most iconic pavement on Earth to show off their skills. The world famous House of Vans will serve as the venue and famed insiders Rob Meronek and Ryan Clements will serve as Sport Directors for the events.
