three_grr and gunsan have come up with a terrific idea, very seasonal and totally inclusive.  You are challenged to show us your idea of Autumnal Festivals!  Think Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows Eve, Harvest, Thanksgiving, Leaf festivals, Grape picking, First Frost, Chinese Moon Festival, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Festival of Lights, Sukkoth... but you get the idea! 

This challenge is for everyone, regardless of their creative tools.  Everyone can enter, whether they are using 2D, 3D, fractal, animation or any other software;  whether they are photographers, writers or even musicians.  The challenge arena is open to all.  Come and join in, test your creative tools against all the others!

The Challenge begins immediately and will close to entries at the end of November. I will give you a few days notice.  All entries will be to this thread or with a link to a larger image. Voting will begin then in the same thread. 

You may enter an existing work if you like, but we would prefer to see a new work created for this challenge... it IS a challenge after all, lol!  You may enter more than one work, but remember that in the voting, each entry will be judged separately. If you choose to enter more than once, please NAME EACH OF YOUR ENTRIES!

Now, go and get creative!

~Viv

Thank Rita for this idea! My head is in some kind of a vacuum, maybe just because the change of season. So let us think of the festivities instead of the Goodbyes!!

LOL, Gun, every ending is a new beginning! Fall and Winter prepare the way for Spring and Summer, and change always seems to create some confusion and then things settle, until the next big change.

As if I did not know dear!! maybe I feel I have more difficulties with time passing for every year I get older (or maybe the world turns faster around it's axes??) Anyway, it is something new, and maybe tied to the fact that I don,t can live IN nature now as before, just look out AT it. Better to be participating than an onlooker, that's for sure!!

Attached Link: Harvest Festival

Hey, that's a neat story, Jon, it fits perfectly!
Rita

When I think of Sweden, we have not any Autumnal festivals like you in US. Well, Halloween is taking over the country little by litle, but for me it is too new to have any meanig. We just have All saints day, when we light candles on the graves. No Thanksgiving, I would like to have that!
The rest is just rain.

Then by all mean, gunsan, share with us what you got in terms of culture. All saints day.??? Then paint a picture of what you do in Sweden on All Saint's Day.

Our "All saints day" is on the same date as your Halloween, if I am not too wrong.

Halloween is October 31, All Saints Day is November 1.  The word Halloween is a contraction for All Hallows Eve (Eve meaning the night before a certain day, like Christmas Eve on Dec. 24 or New Year's Eve on Dec. 31).  Many Christians in the US mark All Saints Day in some way.  Thanks for sharing an interesting and lovely tradition with us!

~Viv

Thanks for sharing... I think it is a lovely way to remember those who are gone.

Cemeteries are a solemn and peaceful place. A place of thoughtful reflection and memory.  Your images capture that beautifully. All Saint's Day, or All Soul's Day as some would call it, is certainly fitting for a fall festival challenge. Nice entries. ~jon

Thanks!

and sorry, i forgot to add, its all fractalwork.
monica

Very beautiful Monica!

thank you, gunsan. happy that i can bring the feeling of autumn indoors.
the woods must be gorgious in this time of year in sweden.
i only visited it in summer, canoeing around.
monica

The beauty of fall has gone and no leaves are left, sorry. This year it went fast by. It is chilly now 3Celcius, so we wait for frost soon.

Still a beautiful autumn colored fractal!

Oooooh, some pretty fractals to start us off! :)

thank you, you two!

Here is a haiku for the challenge. Festival

Festival.

Leaves of yellows, reds.

Children laugh.

~jon

wow, that is a fine haiku!

This is a great beginning!  Monica, as always, your fractals dazzle and amaze!  And Jon, it's always a delight to have writers join in the Challenges.  Thanks for a lovely haiku.

~Viv

== The Beginning ==

In the late afternoon on a summer day in July, she was born. The anticipation regressed, opening her eyes for the first time, she took a quick glance around. she'll never forget the first time she saw it.

Typing "I wish you were here." She had met this guy about two weeks before, and she was falling for this stranger. She had seen him before. Yet she was too shy to introduce herself. They continued their conversation. "What's the catch?" She said, "What are you talking about?" He replied. "Everything about you is perfect, there has to be a flaw." , "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me anyways." She sat up in her seat and said "Please, I want to know everything about you." Finally he replied, "What do you think about the supernatural?" She says, "I don't know what you mean." , "Do you believe?" At this point she was trembling in her chair, awaiting the truth. What could this mean? Is he trying to tell me he's some sort of alien? No, that's impossible. She didn't reply. She logged off and went to bed. She was too terrified to find out the truth.
   The next morning she logged on to her messenger. There was an unread urgent message left for her. She opened it up, she became pale as snow as her hands fell from the table in disbelief. The message had read:

My Dear Love,
     I have been keeping a very strange secret from you. Before I tell you, I want you to know that the moment I layed my eyes on you, I couldn't look away. I kept telling myself "look away so she doesn't see you staring". You came into my life two weeks ago and I couldn't be happier that you did. This may seem impossible but, I have been born into a very strange circumstance. I was born a killer. Not just any killer, a killer with a destiny. I will explain further once I know that you truly love me.
Sincerely Yours,
     Odji
  P.S. Meet me at the corner of Jackson and Harbor in the old warehouse at 9:00pm.

   Her heart skipped, she could not decide whether to follow through for the man she had fallen for or to leave and never return.

   Time flew by, she was stumped. Who knows what will happen if she goes. Then again what will happen if she doesn't. She finally made up her mind. By that time it was a quarter till 9. How was she supposed to get all the way across town in 15 minutes on a bike? She took the chance and just left. She had gotten there about 9:30pm and he was nowhere in sight. She got on her bike and left to go home. When she got there, she had gotten another message from him. It said, "I told you to be there. Now you will find out the hard way." She was so terrified, she called the police and asked them to send an escort to take her to a nearby hotel. She quickly packed up her things and waited outside. The paranoia set in. Every time somebody would look at her, she would tremble in fear. The escort finally got there. She arrived at the hotel and checked in. When she opened her door, her jaw dropped. There he was standing at the window. She could see a dim red aura coming from his eyes. She drops everything and runs to the phone. Too late. He had somehow teleported across the room. She falls to the floor and lets out a blood-curdling scream. All he did was sit there and watch as she struggled to stand up. He finally spoke, "What do you live for?" She replies as her eyes are swelled with tears, "Are you going to kill me?" "No. Not yet." He walks towards her and grabs her hands. "Don't struggle" He said in a calm voice. "I will not hurt you, but let me ask you one question. Do you love me?" She hesitates to reply, "Y-yes, I do, Honestly." She straightens herself up. "What is going on?" He gently wraps his arms around her. What happens next, you will never believe. Only when true love is together, will you see everything disappear. The only thing you have is in your arms. I advise you to never let go. I have heard that when you let go, you will fall for eternity. Never to love again.

This is a short story i had just written. I don't know where else to get it critiqued. could you guys give me some feedback?

Sorry I am running a little late.  Let's begin the voting tomorrow night, midnight Renderosity time. 

~Viv

This has been a challenging 2 months for me in my personal life.  I apologize for not giving you the attention you deserve.  I will try to do better.  It would also be great if any of you would post a link to the challenge in any forum you go to on a regular basis.  This was a fascinating topic, and the few entries show what potential it had, as they are all terrific.  Please look carefully through the entries (make sure you see jstro's haiku and please include gunsan's wonderful photos!)  The voting will be in this thread, after this entry.  You get to choose your 3 favorite entries, giving each of them 3, 2 or 1 points.  Remember, you are choosing an entry, not an artist.  If someone has posted more than one entry, you need to indicate which is your choice. 

Your vote should look something like this:

Autumnal - "Festivals" - 3 points
Fall - "Fun" - 2 points
Equinoctical - "Merriment" - 1 point

Feel free to nominate Honorable Mentions or make comments.

~Viv

jstro_festival_3 points
gunsan_gravelights_2 points
jstro_harvestfestival_1 point

monica

hi, perhaps we should close this and forget about it completely.
monica

Agree!

fine!

 I'm sorry. I've been busy trying to beat a new website into shape and have not been getting e-mail reminders from this thread very consistently (hit and miss). If it's not too late, here are my votes.

3 pts to gunsan for Grave Lights
2 pts to ligt for The Feeling of Fall
1 pt to gunsan for Churchyard

Best wishes to all, and good luck!
~jon

Ok, if no one objects, we will declare everyone winners!  I was very impressed with all the entries, some so thoughtful, others whimsical and all delightful.  I would like to propose that we have a free-for-all for the month of December.  I don't think we've ever done that, and everyone can participate!

Thanks for all your patience and good humor.

~Viv

Hi Viv!!
There were not so many it was worth voting, so i think. A free one is OK or maybe a Christmas one, then there maybe will be more. Anything is OK with me,
Gun

I think each entry was wonderful and giving each one a win is terrific.
I did try to post something, and couldn't get it to upload .. must've been doing something wrong. sigh, sometimes I'm just so technically challenged. 
Rita

I've set up the new thread, see what you think!  And Rita, if you have a problem with uploading, please send me a site mail and I will try to talk you thru it.

~Viv

hah, thats great, now we need participants!
monica