Stargazing, Quince Festival, Dog Days, Chocolate Tastings, Gingerbread House Competition, and More: New England Fall Events Top Picks for Nov 4-10, 2015

Once Halloween comes and goes we can't help but feel a little wistful as the fall event schedule begins to narrow and most events move indoors. We're never happy to bid farewell to our beloved harvest events and outdoor festivals!

We've pulled together a list of some worthy events for this coming weekend and we hope you will take advantage of the variety of activities while we have them.

At this point in the fall season, we here at New England Fall Events will turn our attention towards event wrap ups from our many events we attended. We'll keep publishing over the next few months and we'll remind you of these special festivals again as we get closer to their return next year.

Thank you all for your support of New England Fall Events all season long! We were proud to double our fall event listing this year to include over 1200 individual New England events on our schedule.

Our local farms, museums, theatres, community centers, seasonal businesses, and local attractions keep raising the bar each season and we continue to be impressed by the range of fantastic activities and festivals for celebrating our favorite time of year.

New England Fall Events also is very fortunate to have two more contributing bloggers this year who made it possible for us to cover more of New England and even greater variety of events this season--thank you to Shel Tscherne and Deb Wojicki for their time, energy, and shared enthusiasm for our region, our local traditions, and for bringing the best of the season to our wonderful fans.

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

As the fall event season draws to a close, we still have a solid selection of activities for this coming weekend. You'll find more events on our website and a smattering of events in the coming weeks (but not nearly as many as we approach Thanksgiving).
Here are our Weekend's Top Picks (as always, you'll find even more online). 

Here are our recommended activities for November 3rd-10th, 2015:

Holidaze: The Real Story of Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas Exhibit
Guilford, CT       Click for details
Wednesday through Sunday,
November 4th - December 13th, 2015

Lakes Region Uncorked
Meredith, NH       Click for details
Thursday, November 5th, 2015

Stargazing Night At Frosty Drew Observatory
Charlestown, RI       Click for details
Friday, November 6th, 2015

RI Comic Con 2015
Providence, RI       Click for details
Friday through Sunday, November 6-8th, 2015

CraftWestport 
Westport, CT       Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, November 7th & 8th, 2015

Quince Festival at White Silo Winery
Sherman, CT       Click for details
Saturday, November 7th, 2015

Christmas Festival and Gingerbread House Competition
Boston, MA       Click for details
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 6-8th, 2015

Free Friday at the The Discovery Museums
Acton, MA       Click for details
Friday, November 6th, 2015

Family Autism Event at Children's Museum in Easton
North Easton, MA       Click for details
Friday, November 6th, 2015

Three Centuries of Thanksgiving Tour at Strawbery Banke
Portsmouth, NH       Click for details

Saturdays and Sundays, November 7th & 8th, 2015

Bounty: Thanksgiving at Old Sturbridge Village
Sturbridge, MA       Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, November 7th & 8th, 2015

Cordials and Chocolates Class at Canterbury Shaker Village
Canterbury, NH       Click for details
Saturday, November 7th, 2015

Spirits in the House 1960s Retro Party
West Hartford, CT       Click for details
Saturday, November 7th, 2015

Dog Days at Old Sturbridge Village

Sturbridge, MA       Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, November 7 & 8th, 2015

Victorian Tea at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
Norwalk, CT       Click for details
Sunday, November 8th, 2015

Wagon Ride Weekends at Billings Farm & Museum
Woodstock, VT       Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, November 7th & 8th, 2015

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'll begin to close for the season.

A Visit to Fairyborough at the Discovery Museums

The Discovery Museums welcomes us!

by Shel Tscherne/New England Fall Events 

The girls and I were excited to head to the Discovery Museums in Acton to attend their Fairyborough event this past July. It was an absolutely gorgeous day- a bright blue sky, puffy white clouds and just the hint of a breeze- a perfect one for building some fairy houses!

Enter our contest to WIN a four-pack of tickets to visit the Discovery Museums--enter now through August 31st here.

When we arrived at "Bessie’s Tent" Lucas and Liz from the Discovery Museums staff were preparing for the day’s building. Items were being gathered and placed in baskets in the Fairyborough “Hardware Store”. 

The Fairyborough "Hardware Store"

As fairy houses are intended to be built from materials found in nature, the store consisted of all the items we'd need to construct our fairy house -- pine cones, flowers, flower petals, twine, and sticks of all lengths and sizes. Trader Joe’s even kindly donated flowers to the event each day!

As the event had been going on all week there were many fairy houses already built and on display in the Fairyborough village by the time we arrived for our trip on Friday. The girls and I had a wonderful time checking out all the precious buildings that contributed to the Fairyborough community and they filled us with inspiration!

The girls wrote out some mail to their fairies and we placed them in the Fairy Mail box. Lucas let us know that whatever goes in the fairy mail box will be mailed out as long as there is an address on it. What fun! (What the girls didn’t know is that I wrote out some postcards to be sent to them as a surprise!)

 After they wrote their letters and drew pictures, the girls started to work on their own fairy houses.  

While they were building other families trickled in to partake in the event. This one family built this absolutely gorgeous fairy house. 

It was a fabulous experience and one that we highly recommend to all who love fairies! This event is suitable for all ages and definitely one worth checking out. As the activity is included in the Discovery Museums admission the possibilities for a adventure and exploration are endless!

Tips for Attending Fairyborough at the Discovery Museum

• How long you’ll spend at Fairyborough will depend on your kids. Some children could happily spend the whole morning enjoying the Fairyborough activity but younger children may be ready to move on a little sooner. With the Discovery Museums providing even more opportunity for fun and play, there are plenty of ways to keep engaged and make this trip a worthwhile one.

• If your kids are really into fairies consider packing a picnic lunch as as they will most likely want to stay for a good long while!

• Fairy houses are intended to be built and remain at Fairyborough but there are some goodies (such as the tiny fairy books) that kids could take home with them as a memento if they wished. 

• Hats, sunglasses and sunscreen are always good to have on hand. There is a large tent so there's shade but there are areas outside of the tent as well. 

• Fairyborough is included with museum admission. Families should circle Fairyborough on their calendar but plan extra time to for play and exploration at the museums too! 

• For the littles it may be best to wear them rather than use a stroller as it could be tricky to navigate the stroller around the fairy houses. 

• The area where Fairborough takes place has shady and sunny spots so use sunscreen if you must!