WINTERSET, Iowa — You don't usually see hundreds of people around the Madison County Courthouse every day, but it's a special time of year — the Madison County Covered Bridge Festival is back in Winterset to help ring in the fall.
Residents are more ready than ever to show off what their town has to offer.
For local businesspeople like William Moody, owner of Pine Creek, the work starts early.
He starts prepping his wares as a vendor in the summertime, but getting the whole town ready is a taller order. The work for the next year starts almost as soon as the festival wraps, but Moody doesn't mind.
"Oh my gosh, it's really worth it. At the same time, it's so much fun, and we get to see a lot of people that come from out of town that we don't maybe see but once a year or so you know," Moody said.
The festival attracts hundreds of visitors to Winterset, enjoying live music, local food and more.
Some, like Mary Thomas, came all the way from Florida.
Fall in Madison County might be a little different from the sunshine state, but Thomas said that change of pace was a welcome one.
"So far, we've gone into a lot of the local shops that make all these handmade things. It's amazing how creative people are, I could never do it myself. And we're about to go get some food and it smells amazing," Thomas said.
It's now been more than half a year since a tornado devastated the town, leaving six people dead.
That means, for many festival-goers, it's their first time seeing the town since that fateful day. The repair and recovery process has taken a lot of time, but locals are proud of how far they've come.
"The community and surrounding towns and everybody was just wonderful. And so we're very fortunate. It's it's a great little town. We all take care of each other," Moody said.
The fun isn't over just yet — the festival continues Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Winterset.