Fall is a great season to experience all that Abilene has to offer. With homecomings, downtown activities, seasonal festivities and more — there is so much to keep us busy!

Come to Historic Downtown Abilene for ArtWalk on Thursday. Restaurants, shops, museums, galleries and live entertainment await you — and stay open late. Live music and open mic in from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in Minter Park. Monks Coffee Shop will provide free hot chocolate in the park while supplies last. Create your own tambourine at this month’s Make and Take It, a free, hands-on art activity for children of all ages available from 5 to 8 p.m. at The Grace Museum. The Abilene High School and Cooper High School orchestra will perform at 6 p.m. in the Grace courtyard. Enjoy music from the 1940s and see living history interpreters dressed in 12th Armored Division and WWII uniforms presenting some of the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum’s collection of firearms. Admission is free. The Abilene Swing Dance Society will be held from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Windsor Hotel Ballroom, 401 Pine St. during ArtWalk. Beginning dance lesson offered the first hour. Cost is $5. ASDS is now meeting every second, third and fourth Thursday of the month — same time, same place. ArtWalk is coordinated monthly by The Center for Contemporary Arts to celebrate visual and performing arts within the historical downtown district, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. The Center guarantees that ArtWalk will be “jammin’ this month!” Free to the public. For more information, call (325) 677-8389.

The Paramount Theatre will be showing “Across the Universe,” a 1960s musical featuring classic Beatles songs and a mix of live action and innovative animation, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Call (325) 676-9620 for ticket information.

Bring your children to the Cowpoke Posse at Hardin-Simmons University’s “Stars of the West” Homecoming, from 9:15 to 11:45 a.m. Saturday at Sid Richardson Lawn. Children will enjoy crafts, a jump castle, pony rides and more. Free to children ages 2-11. For more information, call (325) 670-1317.

While you are downtown, stop by the Abilene Civic Center for the Texas Gun and Knife Show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Cost is $4 per person. For more information, call (325) 676-6211.

Gather around for Ghost Tours, from 9 to 11 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Oct. 17, 18, 24 and 25. Listen to the spooky tales from the history of Buffalo Gap Historic Village. Admission is $10. For more information, call (325) 572-3365.

For more information about Abilene’s autumn activities and events, visit www.abilenevisitors.com.

Shanna Smith is Heritage Tourism/special projects coordinator at the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau.