Pumpkin Fests, Corn Mazes, PYO Apples, Fairies, Hobbits, Giant Puppets, Cornhole Tourney, Oktoberfests and More: New England Fall Events Top Picks for Oct 5-11

When New England Fall Events takes a peek at the events calendar and we see all the delicious, quirky, memorable, and traditional events and festivals lined up, we know all this local outdoor goodness is just what our site was truly made for!

Peak PYO Apple Season is Upon Us--Get Picking!!!

It's all apples all the time these days! Apple Festivals, Apple Days, apple pies, applesauce, and apple picking!
Look for McIntosh, Cortland, Macoun and Liberty apples are still hanging around in southern New England while Northern Spy, Golden Delicious, Gala, Pink Beauties, Creston, early-Fuji, Empire, Jonamacs, and Primas are the show-offs right now.

If you're curious about "antique" apples you might check out Smolak Farms' antique apple orchard or pop by Old Sturbridge Village this weekend for their Apple Days Festival which offers heirloom apple tastings and you can try your hand apple picking in their orchard with a long "fruit picker" for fun!

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.

Pumpkins are Everywhere - Find a Local Pumpkin Patch!

Fun in the Pumpkin Patch

Everywhere you turn you will see piles of gorgeous pumpkins of every size, shape, and personality! What better sign of fall is there?

Your local pumpkin patch is likely to be in full swing too so support your local small farmers by popping by their pumpkin patch to load up on pumpkins for your home, front steps, centerpiece, flower vase, pie, carving, and pumpkins for toasting seeds---shall we go on?

Here are  New England Fall Events' Pumpkin Patch Guides for CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, and VT.

Corn Mazes are Wonderful Outdoor Fun for Families

Wojcik Farm Corn Maze

If you haven't treated yourself to a corn maze yet this fall we ask, what are you waiting for?

We're always surprised by how many New Englanders have never enjoyed a corn maze so if that sounds like you, please don't wait another year to explore one!

Most corn mazes have a different themed design every year and many will incorporate statues, surprises, characters, signs, and props that support that year's theme--imagine coming across the Tin Man while inside a Wizard of Oz theme corn maze. Not only do the goodies or puzzles inside the maze fit the theme but the paths through the giant cornfield will create a picture as seen with a birds-eye view.

Escobar Farm Corn Maze Map

You might be given a map to carry with that overhead maze pattern to help you guide your way or you may just wing it as most people seem to enjoy. Some mazes will have puzzles to solve, clues to find, raffles you can enter when you discover hidden boxes within the maze, and more. It's common that there will be a tall bridge somewhere within the maze where you can pause to get a view of the whole maze from a different vantage point and soak up the scenic moment.

Kids and adults alike will have fun and if you call ahead to a farm, you can often get an idea how long it might take to go through. Some, like Sterling, MA Davis MegaMaze could take up to 3 hours to get through whereas local farms like Portsmouth, RI's Escobar Farm has two smaller, adjacent corn mazes so you can complete one and decide if you'd like to re-enter to complete the second (perfect if you have little ones and aren't sure what you're in for).

Dozens of Corn Mazes in New England

This year RI's Escobar Farm features a "RI ComicCon themed Super Hero" design and Mike's Maze in central MA has a theme called "See America". Riverview Farms in CT has you covered with all kinds of fun at their corn maze including additional farm activities like a petting zoo and an ice cream shop!

Gaines Farm in Vermont hosts a 7-acre "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" design celebrating 50 Years of the Peanuts. With its location just 1.5 miles over the Massachusetts border, Gaines Farm is a snap to get to whether you live in central MA, Connecticut or Vermont. We have a full list of New England Corn Mazes at our website so you can easily search by state.

CT's Pumpkins on the Pier is returns to Milford this Saturday!

Pumpkins on display at the Milford CT
Pumpkins on their Pier event.

Pumpkins on the Pier is one of our favorite family-friendly festivals of the season. Featuring pumpkin displays (some carved, some decorated/painted) local families, small businesses and others contribute to this showcase of our season's iconic squash. The displays are featured all along the Walnut Beach pier so you can walk on the pier over the water to see the dozens of funny and clever pumpkin displays. The pier is well-fenced and you can feel safe walking your children out to see the pumpkin displays.

Back on the beach, away from the water, there are dozens of games, pumpkin carving, pumpkin activities, games, a pumpkin patch costume contests, and more activities under the giant pavilion or on the stage. Read about what you can expect from the Pumpkins on the Pier Festival (plus family tips).

Where is New England Fall Events Headed this Weekend?

Giant Puppets at Night Fall Hartford

With so much going on over the long weekend we're keeping all our options open to see how we can fit as much in as possible.
We've definitely circled Hartford's Night Fall for this Saturday! We'll be swinging through CT for a few days and nights so we'll see how many day and nighttime events as we can get to!

With Halloween before us we're also getting into the spirit of more nighttime and Halloween-focused events so we'll be checking out local flashlight corn mazes and a couple ghost tours while we can! Our companion website Halloween New England has all your guides to nighttime events, attractions, haunted houses, night hayrides, Salem attractions, costumes, and Halloween fun.

New England Fall Events' Top Recommendations for this Weekend's Fall Fun

During the long weekend will offer you no shortage of fantastic local events. If you're headed out of town to a neighboring New England state, New England Fall Events makes it super easy to see what's happening in your getaway area.

This is one of the biggest fall events weekends of the year so please don't pass up the opportunity to support your local farms, seasonal attractions, and community festivals of every size and shape. We've narrowed down our long weekend's Top Picks (and you'll find even more online). 

New England Fall Events' Top Recommendations for October 5th- 11th, 2016

Wee Faerie Village presents A Flutter in Time
Old Lyme, CT         Click for details
Wednesday through Monday, October 5th - 10th, 2016
Click for more Fairy and Princess Fall Events in New England.

Damariscotta PumpkinFest and Regatta
Damariscotta, ME          Click for details
Friday through Monday, October 7th-10th, 2016

Milford NH Annual Pumpkin Festival
Milford, NH          Click for details
Friday through Sunday, October 7th-9th, 2016

Stargazing Night at Frosty Drew Observatory
Charlestown, RI          Click for details
Friday, October 7th, 2016
Click for more Moonlight and Sunset Fall Events.

Star Party at the Northern Skies Observatory 
Peacham, VT          Click for details
Friday, October 7th, 2016
Click for more Moonlight and Sunset Fall Events.

Oktoberfest - Loon Mountain
Lincoln, NH           Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 8th & 9th, 2016

Stratton Chili Cook-off and Brew Fest
Stratton Mountain, VT           Click for details
Saturday through Monday, October 8th-10th, 2016

Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Frerichs Farm
Warren, RI           Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016

Fall Foliage Festival at Waterville Valley
Waterville Valley, NH           Click for details
Saturday through Monday, October 8th-10th, 2016

Old Sturbridge Village presents Dig In: A Field to Table Festival
Sturbridge, MA           Click for details
Saturday through Monday, October 8th-10th, 2016

New Hampshire Fall Festival
Portsmouth NH          Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016

Cranberry Harvest Celebration
Wareham, MA          Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 8th & 9th, 2016

Connecticut Garlic & Harvest Festival
Bethlehem, CT           Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 8th & 9th, 2016

King Richard's Renaissance Faire
Carver, MA         Click for details
Saturday through Monday, October 8th-10th, 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"

Fairy and Hobbit House Festival Fundraiser
Lee, NH           Click for details
Saturday through Monday, October 8th-10th, 2016
Click for more Fairy and Princess Fall Events in New England.

Annual North American Wife Carrying Championship
Newry, ME           Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016

Pumpkins on the Pier Festival
Milford, CT          Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016 (rain date: Oct 9th)
Read why we love Pumpkins on the Pier and find family tips!

Fall Festival at Dog Mountain
Johnsbury, VT           Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016
Click for more Dog-friendly Fall Events.
Click for Dog-friendly Apple Orchards.

Maine Fall Foliage Canoe Tour
Durham, ME          Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016
Click for more Moonlight and Sunset Fall Events.

Night Fall Hartford
Hartford, CT          Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016

Anthony Bourdain at Foxwoods Resort Casino
Mashantucket, CT          Click for details
Saturday, October 8th, 2016

New England Cornhole Championship
Newry, ME         Click for details
Sunday, October 9th, 2016

Harpoon Octoberfest
Windsor, VT         Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 8th & 9th, 2016

Prescott Park Chili Cook-Off
Portsmouth, NH         Click for details
Sunday, October 9th, 2016

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, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 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.

Vermont's Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival - Where Medieval Engineering Meets Squash

by Deb Wojcicki / New England Fall Events

A late September treat for us, New England Fall Events enjoyed the 7th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival in Stowe, Vermont.

This one-day, family-friendly festival provided an exciting afternoon of fun featuring food and drink, the People's Choice Chili Cook-off, children's activities, music, and of course, the all-important pumpkin chuckin'!

The premise of this event centers around the engineering challenge of designing trebuchets of all size and types to hurl pumpkins across a field to the delight of an enthusiastic crowd. Twenty-six teams entered the competition this year in four categories: Heavyweight, Middleweight Open, Middleweight Junior and Lightweight.  Teams consisted of friends, family, and even Boy Scout troops.

For the uninitiated, trebuchets are a type of gravity-driven catapult employing a counter-weight system to sling projectiles towards some far-off target. Imagine a line of medieval-looking siege-machines set up in a field preparing to do battle...except instead of hurling rocks at castles, here they were competing with each other for the distinction of flinging pumpkins the farthest.

The larger the machine, the larger the pumpkin it can accommodate. As the trebuchets launched away, the projectile pumpkins rolled, bounced and splattered all over the field with officials chasing after the fruit to measure and record the distance flown.

Some spectators in attendance were there to appreciate the mechanical engineering involved; others were transfixed by the competition itself - either way, these machines were truly magnificent to watch.

When not mesmerized by flying pumpkins, children were entertained by giant board games, blocks and games of throwing skill. The bands played on and off during the event, which ran from 11:00am to 4:00pm. The chili cook-off judging began at 12:15pm and for a mere $5, festival attendees could taste the various chili offerings and vote for their favorite blend. Four teams entered the chili cook-off so there was plenty of variety and adult beverages could be purchased to round out the lunch.

The pumpkin chuckin' action began at 12:30pm and throughout the afternoon. The 8th Annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival is scheduled for Sunday, September 25, 2016 and it's a fine afternoon, we're sure, for trebuchets and chili.

Tips for Planning Your Trip to the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival:

Tickets are $5 at the door for adults and children 5 and older; younger kids get in for free.

Cash is king for food and drink at this festival.

Bring lawn chairs, a blanket, umbrellas, bug spray, sunscreen or anything else you'll need to be comfortable while you are watching the competition; there are no grandstands or picnic tables, but you may sit on the grass if you wish.

Dogs and outside food & beverages are not allowed.

There are a few tents for the food and such, but no indoor space to speak of. The event runs rain or shine.

Restroom facilities consist of porta-potties, but no lines were observed so there seemed to be plenty.

Trebuchet mishaps are rare, but they do occur. If you are watching from behind the trebuchet line, you may be asked to move while the machine in front of you is firing. Be prepared for a short wait between launches as the competition waits until the spectators are safely dispersed.

There are three rounds of competition, so get there when you can - it goes all afternoon.

Ample free parking is provided in a field adjacent to the event.

Traffic going in to the event was fairly smooth and parking easy to find; be patient when you leave as people tended to leave en masse at the end of each round of competition.