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.

Ten Reasons to Be Happy Summer is Over in New England

We know it can be hard to let go of the lazy days of summer and Labor Day weekend acts as a bridge that gently guides us from one season to the next. 

New England Fall Events is here to give you ten wonderful reasons to joyfully say farewell to summer and get excited about the arrival of fall!

Ten Reasons to Be Happy Summer is Over

or, Why Nothing Compares to Fall in New England

Apple Picking—need we elaborate?

Hayrides—nothing beats bumping around on a horse-drawn hayride, preferably with a fat, juicy apple in your hand. It's scenic, it's perfect, it's classic.

Cider Donuts—I double dog dare you to come up with a scent better than freshly made cider donuts wafting across the orchard.

Orange—it probably comes as no surprise that it is our favorite color too. Orange leaves, orange pumpkins, orange clothes in the stores, orange mums on your front steps. Just like you, we have an orange room in our house too—it’s the perfect shade of orange.

Foliage—Whether you are a dedicated leaf-peeper or just driving around your community, New England Fall Events has teamed up with Jeff Foliage to keep you in the loop.  

Jack-o’-Lanterns and Pumpkin Festivals— Quite simply, they’re magical, enchanting, and feature lots and lots of orange.

Football—New England Fall Events is a guide “for New Englanders by a New Englander” so if you think you’ll catch us wearing kelly green before the Super Bowl or cheering on anyone other than our beloved New England Patriots, you are in the wrong place, my friend.

Corn Mazes – Can’t have a corn maze in summer because the corn isn't tall enough. Only in fall can we enjoy “getting lost”. Daytime mazes, nighttime mazes, problem-solving mazes, we love them all.

Leaf Piles—no matter the age, there is no better way to feel like a kid again than jumping in a heap of crunchy (orange!) leaves. 

Wine—Okay, many of us enjoy wine year-round but fall is harvesting season for local vineyards. Lots of fun tasting weekends and harvesting events are on the agenda across our region. Exhibit A. Exhibit B. Exhibit C.

What are your favorite fall events, traditions, sights, and smells that make you happy that fall is finally here?   

Early Apples, Wizard of Oz Maze, Frozen Fun, and Foliage: New England Fall Events for August 22-24

Carlson Orchard, Harvard, MA

Hello New Englanders!

It's the middle of August and apple picking has finally kicked off as well! We know that peaches and raspberries are mostly stealing the PYO show right now but in no time at all it will feel like fall has arrived!

If Paula Reds, Ginger Golds, and Zestar are the apples of your eye then you are in luck because a handful of New England farms are already offering pick-your-own-apples. These crispy, juicy, sometimes tart early season apples are great for eating fresh.

Check out:
Shelburne Orchards and Chapin Orchards in VT both start up next weekend but Easy Pickins in CT, DeMerritt Hill Farm in NH, and Tougas Farm in MA are already serving up some early-season PYO.

Interactive state maps to help you plan

Remember, New England Fall Events has apple picking guides for every state in our region to help you make your plans this fall. You can track farm locations on the interactive state maps too!

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

And while we're at it, here are your shortcuts to the maps for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

It's the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz and we can't wait to get down to Portsmouth, RI's own Escobar Farm Corn Maze which has designed their maze this year to celebrate everyone's most treasured movie. Escobar's Corn Maze opens this weekend and they'll be open daily until Labor Day (at which point they shift to a weekend schedule). Find maze details, prices, hours, special events, and links to directions here. Even better, save $2 when you print the coupon from their page on New England Fall Events!

The Sunflower Maze is still going on at Lyman Orchards in CT--they've extended through Aug 28th so swing by soon!

Frozen Movie Weekend in Acushnet, MA

We know how many of you have pint-sized Frozen fanatics living with you so we know you'll never forgive us if we didn't let you know about the Frozen Movie Weekend at The Silverbrook Farm in Acushnet, MA. It's more of a night than a "weekend" so be sure to show up this Saturday, August 23rd. The event begins with the Elsa and Anna meet & greet and the famous Silverbrook Twilight Hayrides which lead up to a movie screening of Frozen at 8:15pm. It's hard to beat the super-affordable admission price of $5 per person! Read up on the Frozen Weekend event details  and visit The Silverbrook Farm page for directions, contact info and more.


Lastly, we're thrilled to announce that New England Fall Events will be working with New England's foremost foliage tracker, prolific blogger, and exceptionally talented photographer Jeff-Foliage to bring you leaf-peeping updates all season long. Jeff's devotion and passion for photography, foliage, and love of New England shines through in his work and we're very happy to connect our autumn-loving readers to his great work all season long. Read up on his latest post with tips on how he plans his fall foliage vacation.

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.

Classic New Hampshire: Antrim Home and Harvest Festival

Painted Mural - Town Hall, Antrim NH

In mid-September, New England Fall Events took a road trip to scenic Antrim, NH to check out the annual Home and Harvest Festival. Antrim is a tiny, scenic, rural town with the quintessential white steeple church and charming town hall. The lovely park and gazebo situated along the river behind the town center are postcard pretty. The overcast morning soon gave way to blue skies and perfect crisp fall weather and it was ideal for the day’s festivities.

Scenic Bridge in Antrim, NH

The Antrim Home and Harvest Festival is a 2-day, weekend festival and we attended on Saturday morning through early afternoon. We arrived right around 10:00am and scored a lucky curbside parking spot quite close to the town center. There were dozens of activities scheduled from morning through night yet there was just the right amount of time cushioned in between to wander, soak up the atmosphere, catch some live music, and explore the craft vendors. 

 Always popular face painting booth 

My young nephews (just 3 and 5 ½) were immediately drawn to the face painting booth (for a small fee). The craft vendors were set up on the front lawns of local businesses, churches, and houses and there was a church yard sale towards the edge of the town center. Live music was being played down the street a bit as well. (Note to organizers--why not set the band up closer to the town center where we could all enjoy?)

The festival clearly drew people of all ages, including plenty of teens and seniors, but it was a perfect festival for children to have a great time. While we were there the crowds were never so large or dense that you couldn’t easily spot your children and with the town center closed to through traffic, it was safe for the little ones as well.  

Waiting in anticipating for the parade 

The festival itself was free and any “extras” like BBQ, burgers, hot dogs, etc were very affordable. I can’t resist giving a huge shout out to the local businesses sponsored the ever-popular bouncy houses, giant inflatable slides, and super trampoline—their sponsorship allowed everyone to partake in these attractions totally free. And partake my nephews did! It was a nice change to not have to shell out for every little thing which added to the charm of the day. The lines were never terribly long and the folks who managed the admission/lines for these attractions were easygoing and flexible (i.e. holding everyone’s spot in line while everyone left at the same time to catch the parade).

Plentiful NH fire engines on parade
to the delight of young kids!

The highlight for us was the parade at 11:30am. My nephews couldn’t get enough of the various fire engines from Antrim and other local towns—and it’s a good thing because there were plenty of emergency vehicles, race cars, and tractors to delight them! Local businesses sponsored sweet hand-decorated parade floats and many passed out candy. The requisite local marching bands and scout troops also joined in the parade fun and the Christmas tree costumes parading through promoting November’s local Festival of Trees event were delightful.

The skateboard competitions were held at the skate park across the river behind the town hall—perhaps a 5 minute walk-- and this is definitely where the teens seemed to congregating but there were also a handful playing Wii upstairs in the Town Hall. (A good idea to have this backup activity handy in case it rained after all!)

Pizza Guy was a huge hit

I was genuinely excited to witness the Corn Cob Eating Competition (go ahead, laugh but I love these type of things) and I’d circled that on my must-see list when I saw this featured on the Antrim website events calendar. However, when I went to the Town Hall to check it out, the competition was nowhere to be found. I searched and asked around about it but no one knew what I was talking about. Finally, we located a poster hung up on the wall and inexplicably, the competition was not on the printed poster at all. I have no idea whether the text calendar on the website had the competition as a typo but this would be my only disappointment about the visit. It was a great idea and I hope they bring it back!

The Saturday evening lineup included a big BBQ, more live bands, and fireworks at Tenney Farm a few miles down the road. I was sorry to miss these because I am sure they were a hit and a wonderful way to bring the townsfolk together.  If you are making Antrim a family road trip, consider finding a place to stay overnight so you can partake in these evening events as well.

The Antrim Home and Harvest Festival was definitely a classic, sweet-natured community festival and there’s a nice non-commercial vibe about the whole affair. It’s a very nice destination for people of any age but especially families looking for a fun, charming fall experience with good atmosphere and without the overwhelming crowds.

This year the Antrim Home and Harvest Festival will take place Friday and Satuday September 16-17th, 2015 in Antrim, NH. Visit their event listing here. Their full schedule of events can be found here.

Antrim Home and Harvest Tips:

Lovely church steeple
in downtown Antrim, NH

• Drive the speed limit (which is lower than you think). There were lots of cops with radars sitting in wait along the quiet back country roads --the only kind of roads to get you to Antrim.
• Antrim is in a rural region of NH. Cell signals can spotty in this area.
• For town center street parking, arrive close to 10:00am (arrive later and you'll be diverted to designated overflow parking on High Street with a shuttle to take to you town).
• Bring cash--Most food and craft vendors do not accept plastic.
• The festival and most events are ADA Accessible as many events take place outside in downtown Antrim or inside town buildings. (not sure about the events at Tenney's Farm - call ahead!
• Not many gluten-free or healthier food options at all if this is important to you.   
• On your way out of town, NH's own preservative- and additive-free Annabelle’s ice cream is worth the stop at scenic Tenney Farm!

My nephew proudly and fiercely
sporting his skull face painting.

Family Tips for Attending the Home and Harvest Festival:

• The festival and most events are stroller-friendly.
• Great festival if you have very young children—plenty of space to move, parks nearby if you want to spread out or picnic, face painting for a small fee and FREE inflatables! The parade will keep their attention.
• The skateboard competition and virtual downhill skiing will appeal to your older kids and teens.
• The schedule for the weekend's activities are posted on the Antrim Home and Harvest Festival website. Useful for planning ahead.