Every year state offices and schools close to celebrate Nevada Day with a major parade in the capital, festivals, fairs, contests, tours, food and fun. This year’s parade theme tips a hat to President Abraham Lincoln, who granted Nevada its statehood. Lincoln was born in 1809, so this year marks the 200th anniversary of his birth.

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Ghost hunters, history buffs and fun-seekers: conquer your fears, pack your Ouija Board and tarot cards and be irresistibly drawn to Carson Valley for “Haunted Weekend”, Oct. 22-25, to experience ghosts on the streets and in the cemeteries.

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Friendly ghosts will lead tours along the historic Kit Carson Trail Oct. 24, offering views and lore of the city’s haunted Victorian homes and buildings during Carson City’s 17th Annual Ghost Walk.
Ghosts of Carson City’s past will lead guests through the eerie lives and untold lore of local legends, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Oct. 24
“We Know Dead People” is this year’s theme for one of the capital’s most popular events that traditionally falls on the weekend before Halloween and the Nevada Day celebration. This year, visitors can take part in re-enacting the 1873 funeral of Abraham Curry, one of Carson City’s founding fathers.

Costumed guides will escort participants on two different one-mile 90-minute walking tours along Carson City’s historic downtown Kit Carson Trail. The “Overtaker” and “Undertaker” paths will take guests through the preparations for Curry’s funeral. On the...

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Annual music festival in Elko celebrates ranching, cowboy life
Cowboy Poet Sourdough Slim
Tickets to the 26th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko go on sale to the public Oct. 8, and they’re available online at www.westernfolklife.org, or call toll-free to 888-880-5885. But don’t wait, because as the thousands of cowboy poetry fans know, tickets to the shows can sell fast! The gathering Jan. 23-30, 2010, also includes how-to workshops, art and western gift, crafts and jewelry exhibits and much more.

Most of the shows are staged the last four days, Jan. 27-30 at the Elko Convention Center, Western Folklife Center and Great Basin College. The event draws ranchers, cowboys and people who like the music, storytelling and celebrating the heart of the American West — and anywhere else in the world where cowboys ride.

Every gathering has a...

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Lattin Farms celebrates 100 years of farming with the Centennial Corn Maze

Finding your way through the annual corn maze at Lattin Farms in Fallon is one of Nevada’s fun fall activities. This year, the Lattin family is celebrating 100 years and five generations of farming with the opening of the Centennial Corn Maze, a jungle of towering corn stalks that twist and turn for more than a mile.

The Centennial Maze is open to the public every weekend in October, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays. The maze will stay open an hour later the full-moon weekend of Oct. 2-3 for visitors to try their luck getting through by moonlight.

A different design is cut into the corn each year. It’s difficult to get a sense of the design from inside, but from the air, the image is striking and clear. This year’s design –...

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