Pumpkin Patches, Costumes, Scarecrows, Pirates, ASD-Friendly Museum Night, Fairytale Ball and More: New England Fall Events Top Picks for Oct 12-18

As we head arrive mid-month, it's a fantastic time for fall events while the weather is nice and the New England foliage a feast for the eyes. There is no better time for a day-trip to explore a different area of your state or a neighboring one! Nothing makes us happier than a wandering road through picturesque areas of Connecticut or Vermont in search of an off-the-beaten path fall festival.Take back roads, not the highway, and soak up the fall color while you can.

As always, New England Fall Events has a number of events this weekend to give you just the excuse to hit the road!

New England Apple Season - Varieties Galore!

No matter which orchard you choose, there are so many varieties to choose from right now. The pickings are great at apple orchards large and small. As always, New England Fall Events has your complete guides, features, maps, and contact details for your local or destination-area New England PYO apple orchards.

Here are your quick links to our apple picking guides: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Visit our sister site for all your Local Costume and Halloween Stores

If you are working on getting your family's costumes together for Halloween, please remember to visit our companion website Halloween New England has a complete list of locally-owned costume stores as well as a number of pop-up seasonal stores.

Many costume stores are small-business owners who have been serving your community for years by providing costumes for every occasion beyond Halloween. It's easy to overlook that that a number of costume stores aren't just for Halloween--people require costumes for school plays, seasonal fairs, meet-and-greets, princess parties, holiday parties, and many other special occasions. The locally-owners, year-round stores understand the full range of quality, durability, budget and more so they are worth seeking out for costumes that are unusual, special, or will last.
Locally-owned costume stores may even offer costume rentals which is a nice perk which you are unlikely to see offered with pop up and seasonal-only Halloween stores.

Here are your state-by-state Costume and Halloween store guides for Connecticut, Maine,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Pumpkin Patches are Popping Up Everywhere!

The color orange is such a feast for the eyes and we can't get enough see our beloved color everywhere and anywhere we go at this time of year!
Visit your local pumpkin patch where you can pick up your squash of choice, color, and shape. We make it easy to support your local small farms with PYO Pumpkins.

Here are  New England Fall Events' Pumpkin Patch Guides for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Providence's Jack O'Lantern Spectacular is Open 7 Nights a Week until Nov 6th! 
The Jack O'Lantern Spectacular at The Roger Williams Park and Zoo is a sight to behold! With thousands of carved pumpkins to feast your eyes on, there are 32 nights total to check out this event, Better yet, it is open nightly which means there are many options to swing down to Providence to see it first-hand. The 2016 presentation titled “American Treasures,” will celebrate our nation’s history and culture through the rich lens of commemorative postage stamps. Since the Postal Service began in the 1850s, commemorative stamps represent key events, places and cultural icons in thousands of extraordinary works of art. Visitors to the Spectacular will experience these images in special scenery where they are transformed into intricate carvings on illuminated pumpkins. Event details.

Rise of the Jack O'Lanterns comes to Boston at the end of the month - FOUR Nights Only!!

While we're talking pumpkins, this Halloween season marks the debut of a huge new Jack O'Lantern event in Boston called Rise of the Jack O'Lanterns. This much-anticipated event will feature over 5,000 carved jack o'lanterns on display and four carving stations to observe the skills from these master pumpkin carvers. You'll find combination displays, giant pumpkins, 3D sculpted pumpkins, and a mini carving factory. Rise of the Jack O'Lanterns will only be open for FOUR nights over the weekend leading to Halloween (Thurs Oct 27th - Sunday 30th) so we recommend buying tickets early as this will most certainly sell out. Find links to sign up for discount ticket codes on our Rise event page.

The Wallingford Scarecrow Festival is coming up this weekend!

One of our favorite annual October events returns this weekend! This Saturday, October 15th is the date for the Wallingford CT Scarecrow Festival --a super family-friendly festival which is free of charge to attend.

If you attend the Wallingford Scarecrow Festival, give yourself enough time to visit the Make-Your-Own-Scarecrow station where for only $10 you are given access to everything you need--a scarecrow stake, milk jug "head", endless clothes and accessories to make your scarecrow special and unique (all included!). It delighted us to return home with our own scarecrow to stand guard on our yard for the duration of the fall. In addition to the scarecrows, you'll find food trucks, vendors, hayrides, pumpkin patch, pumpkin and fall-themed games, crafts, moon bounce and much more. As is common, most "extras" like games and crafts do cost a few dollars extra but are kept affordable and every dime contributed towards their fundraiser.
Read about our visit to the Wallingford Scarecrow Festival complete with family tips!

New England Fall Events' Top Recommendations for October 12th- 18th, 2016

As we approach the peak of the fall event season, take advantage while you can! After this weekend, you'll start to see more Halloween-focused activities and fewer farm festivals and outdoor harvest fun. Here's our Weekend's Top Picks (as always, you'll find even more online at our website). 

Wee Faerie Village presents A Flutter in Time
Old Lyme, CT         Click for details
Wednesday through Sunday, October 12th - 30th, 2016
Click for more Fairy and Princess Fall Events in New England.

Halloween Hike at Boo Meadow Brook
Worcester, MA         Click for details
Friday, October 14th, 2016
Click for more Moonlight and Sunset Fall Events.

Taste of Haymarket
Boston, MA        Click for details
Friday, October 14th, 2016

Nautical Nightmares at Mystic Seaport
Mystic, CT         Click for details
Friday and Saturday, October 14th & 15th, 2016.

Twilight Hike at Sholan Farms
Leominster, MA          Click for details
Friday, October 14th, 2016
Read about New England Fall Events' visit to Sholan Farms in our article "Family-Friendly Twilight Hiking at Leominster's Sholan Farms"
Click for more Moonlight and Sunset Fall Events.

Goffstown Pumpkin Weigh-off and Regatta
Goffstown, NH         Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 15th & 16th, 2016

Maine Fall Foliage Kayak Tour
Freeport, ME         Click for details
Saturday, October 15th, 2016
Click for more Moonlight and Sunset Fall Events.

Roktoberfest: A Beer, Bacon and Bands Festival
Vergennes, VT         Click for details
Saturday, October 15th, 2016

Wallingford Scarecrow Festival
Wallingford, CT         Click for details
Saturday, October 15th, 2016
Read why this is a favorite event of New England Fall Events!

Mansfield Pup Crawl - FREE
Storrs, CT          Click for details
Saturday October 15th, 2016
Click for more Dog-friendly Fall Events.
Click for Dog-friendly Apple Orchards.

Children's Fairies and Pirates Parade at King Richard's Faire
Carver, MA         Click for details
Friday through Sunday,  October 14th -16th, 2016
Find everything you want to know about the KRF experience in our  article "King Richard's Renaissance Faire Offers Costumed Charm and Good Cheer"

Especially for Me! Free Evening at the Children's Discovery Museum for Families with Children on the Autism Spectrum
Acton, MA          Click for details
Saturday, October 15th, 2016

Wellfleet OysterFest

Wellfleet, MA          Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 15 & 16th, 2016

Connecticut Renaissance Faire
Norwich, CT         Click for details
Saturdays and Sundays, October 1st- 30th, 2016

FairyTale Fall Ball
Kingston, MA     Click for details
Sunday, October 16th, 2016

Full Moon Hike: Thomas Miner Preserve
Stonington, CT          Click for details

Sunday, September 16th, 2016
Click for more Moonlight and Sunset Fall Events.

Ballet Spooktacular
Old Saybrook, CT          Click for details
Saturday  and Sunday, October 15th & 16th, 2016

Baypath Humane Society Paws & Claws 5k
Hopkinton, MA        Click for details
Sunday, October 16th, 2016
Click for more Dog-friendly Fall Events.
Click for Dog-friendly Apple Orchards.

Heading out for some fall fun this weekend? 
Need help mapping out where to go? New England Fall Events’ state page maps are handy for scrolling and spotting farms near home or near your road-trip destination.
Find Orchard and fall attraction maps for Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine,
Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Remember, always call ahead before heading out to PYO as some farms will adjust their hours for weather or they close to allow more time for fruit to ripen.