Crunch, crunch.

My footsteps along the gravel pathways of Tall Oaks stepped in time to the sound of Celtic Creek, a spirited guitar, flute and vocalist ensemble set up in a rustic pavilion.

Surrounded by thousands of acres in the middle of the Allegheny National Forest, Tall Oaks was in its 17th annual Autumn Fest. A first-time visitor, I reveled in the bustling outdoor setting, a tranquil wooded enclave of picturesque shops, talented crafters and accomplished food vendors.

Tom Beletic, mastermind of the event, said the first year he held the outdoor mix of shopping, food and entertainment, he only had a single vendor: Betty Labesky from Sheffield, selling her baked goods alongside the merchandise in his Tall Oaks store.

“Now we get vendors from as far away as Philadelphia, some of whom stay for the entire nine-weekend run that extends from the beginning of September through the end of October,” he said. “Over the years, we’ve grown quite a bit and now average 60,000 patrons over the course of the entire festival.”

In October 1981, Beletic opened one small shop in an area surrounded by — what else — tall oak trees. The site has grown into a cluster of shops featuring gifts, decorator items, candles, Christmas ornaments, candy, lamps, plaques, prints, garden accessories, collectibles, antiques and more.

Augmenting the merchandise in the permanent buildings are vendors such as John Keyes of St. Marys, who stood behind a wagon laden with his homemade Goblin Chocolate treats and handed out samples of chocolate covered cranberries, cherries and blueberries.

Nearby, Tony Ceriola of Warren and his wife, Sandy, were making tasty miniature doughnuts and passing out samples, along with a dollop of pumpkin dip to kick up the taste a notch or two.

“They’re real light and melt in your mouth,” he said.

Elsewhere, under a spacious tent, Jeff Karwoski of Westfield, N.Y., was overseeing his collection of wooden reindeer made of recycled logs and branches salvaged from the Taylor Tree Service, where he holds his day job.

With the aroma of gyros, cheesesteaks, Italian sausage and cinnamon-roasted almonds, pecans and cashews wafting through the air, I made my way to the Brick Village Gourmet booth. There I eyed the company’s lineup of interesting foods, such as balsamic and sweet onion relish and Concord grapeseed Vinaigrette salad dressing.

A few steps away, Sherrie McIntosh of Waterford was talking to passers-by about her all-natural soaps and lotions from a booth that also displayed seven varieties of Sprecher’s gourmet sodas bottled by a small German brewery in Wisconsin.

Like all the other vendors, the Potpourri Patch of Marble, Pa., was juried by a three-man committee. Louise Linehan, the aunt of owner Lisa Guerrero, was bagging seven different fragrances of potpourri with names like “Holiday Memories” and “Warm Gingerbread,” held in metal washtubs.

“All our product is made from botanicals like berries and seed pods imported from around the world,” she explained.

Exiting Tall Oaks, I stopped to admire the pieces on display at the Artworks by Mother Earth stall. All the products are handcrafted by artists in the Lake Chautauqua, N.Y., area using natural materials such as beautifully grained maple burl, basswood, cherry and driftwood and carved deer, moose and elk antlers.