Jack O' Lanterns, Thanksgiving Events, Trivia Night, Polar Express Train, Gingerbread House Competition, and More: New England Fall Events Top Picks for Nov 3rd-8th, 2016

Once Halloween is in the books for the year, the fall event schedule begins to narrow as folks turn their attention towards Thanksgiving. We're never happy to see our beloved harvest events fall festivals draw to a close!

We've pulled together a list of some worthwhile activities and events for this weekend and we hope you will enjoy them.

Thank you all for your support of New England Fall Events all season long! We were proud to increase our fall event listings this year to include 1800 individual New England events on our schedule over 32% more than last year!

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 variety of ways to celebrate our favorite time of year. 

Thank you to New England's small farms and festival organizers enough for welcoming New England Fall Events and sharing their bounty with us. We have baked your apples into pies, snacked on your cinnamon doughnuts, carved your pumpkins, laughed on your hayrides, gotten turned around in your corn mazes, sipped your mulled cider, and created a lifetime of memories at your farms and festivals. What a wealth of local bounty we have in our little corner of the country!

Two Noteworthy Winter Holiday Events...in November!

Before we sign off for the season, we'd like to tip our cap to two special upcoming events that have a winter holiday theme but take place in November.

The first comes up this weekend--the Annual Boston Christmas Festival and Gingerbread House Competition held at the Boston Seaport World Trade Center Friday through Sunday November 4th-6th. Sure, families are welcome but this shopping extravaganza is intended for adults as it's a very popular, well-attended, annual shopping tradition for many New Englanders. We attended for the first time last year and were impressed by the variety of booths, crafts, makers, goodies, and more that were offered. If you are looking for unique gifts or to check off your holiday shopping early in the season, you will want to make a beeline to this festival. 

Even more delightful was the impressive Gingerbread House Competition which auctions off these eye-popping gingerbread displays to fundraise for Housing Families, an important local organization supporting families in transition.

We wrote a soup-to-nuts article about our experience at this festival which will give you a complete overview of the experience, offer strategies for getting the most from the event, family tips, and even super affordable parking alternatives! Read "Gingerbread Houses and Holiday Shopping at the Boston Christmas Festival."

The Polar Express Train Ride is one of the most beloved family traditions in the area and RI's Blackstone Valley is host to the only Polar Express Train in New England this year! 

With dates starting in November and running from November 18th through December 23rd, you will want to book tickets ASAP as this special event sells out every year. We had a memorable visit last year and continue to appreciate the professionalism, thoughtfulness, and sweet details that this event producer delivers with every event they put on (see our coverage from the American Girl Train Ride for more).

With holiday songs, games, entertainment, a personal visit from a certain bearded someone, picture opportunities with said bearded guy (skip the mall!) and a special Polar Express themed gift, this is a special way for families to celebrate the season with their kiddos.

As we like to do, we have a complete article chronicling our Polar Express Train Ride experience and to answer your questions, help you plan ahead, and give you a full idea of what fun the train ride has in store for you. Read "A Magical Ride to the North Pole on the Polar Express Train."

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

As the fall event season draws to an end, there are still a few fall and harvest related activities lined up during the next week. You'll find a smattering of more events on our website and during the coming weeks (but the event calendar seems to go into hibernation as we approach Thanksgiving).

Here are our Weekend's Top Picks (and you'll find even more online).

Here are our recommended activities for November 3rd - 8th, 2016:

Jack O'Lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Zoo

Providence, RI      Click for details

Nightly through Sunday, November 6th, 2016

Christmas Festival and Gingerbread House Competition

Boston, MA       Click for details

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 4th-6th, 2016

Not sure what to expect? Read our article "Gingerbread Houses and Holiday Shopping at the Boston Christmas Festival"

RI Comic Con 2016

Providence, RI       Click for details

Friday through Sunday, November 11-13th, 2016

CraftWestport 

Westport, CT       Click for details

Saturday and Sunday, November 5th & 6th, 2016

Quince Festival at White Silo Winery

Sherman, CT       Click for details

Saturday, November 5th, 2016

Three Centuries of Thanksgiving Tour at Strawbery Banke

Portsmouth, NH       Click for details

Saturdays and Sundays, November 5th & 6th, 2016

Wagon Ride Weekends at Billings Farm & Museum

Woodstock, VT       Click for details

Saturday and Sunday, November 5th & 6th, 2016

Bounty: Thanksgiving at Old Sturbridge Village

Sturbridge, MA       Click for details

Saturday and Sunday, November 5th & 6th, 2016

Dog Days at Old Sturbridge Village

Sturbridge, MA       Click for details

Saturday and Sunday, November 5th & 6th, 2016

Take a Swing at Cancer Trivia Night

Framingham, MA    Click for details

Thursday, November 10th, 2016

Holidaze: The Real Story of Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas Exhibit
Guilford, CT       Click for details
Wednesday through Sundays,
now through December 11th, 2016

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.

Cranberry Fest, Pumpkin Boat Races, Apple Days, Foliage Fun, Cheese Festival, and more: New England Fall Events Top Picks for Oct 7-13

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!

Like you, we're fans of the season too and we never want to pass up a single moment to celebrate our beautiful region, this special season, and the people, communities, artists, and farms who bring us so many ways to appreciate the slow life and savor autumn's bounty.

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

Smolak Farms' Antique Apple Orchard

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

Nothing makes us happier than seeing MORE orange everywhere! No matter where you turn you will see piles of gorgeous pumpkins of every size, shape, and personality.

Your local pumpkin patch is likely to be in full swing too! Support your local small farms and pop by their pumpkin patch to load up on pumpkins for your home, pumpkins for your front steps, pumpkins for your centerpiece, pumpkins for your flower vase, pumpkins for your pie, pumpkins for carving, 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).

Nessralla Farm Corn Maze

This year RI's Escobar Farm features a "Pawtucket Red Sox" design and Mike's Maze in central MA has a full Alice in Wonderland theme. Nessralla Farm in Halifax, MA has a "Frozen" Corn Maze design featuring Anna and Elsa cut out plus some Olaf hay bales out front. 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 dinosaur theme and with its location just 1.5 miles over the Massachusetts border, Gaines is a snap to get to whether you live in central MA, Connecticut or Vermont. Maine's "Pumpkin Land" corn maze at Harvest Hill Farms is host to a "Farm Scene Investigation" or "FSI" to solve the mystery of where Farmer Joe disappeared to for a fun twist. We have a full list of New England Corn Mazes at our website so you can easily search by state.

Where have New England Fall Events Been Lately?

Day of the Dead Scavenger Hunt

We had a wonderful weekend visiting Halifax MA's Nessralla Farm where they were in full swing with a pumpkin patch, a Frozen-themed corn maze, and bouncy houses and Bridgewater MA's CN Smith Farm had an orchard just busting with apples. Cranston, RI's Confreda Farm was busy running their nighttime haunted hayride and corn maze called Scary Acres.
We spent all day Sunday adventuring through southeastern MA at the day-long Day of the Dead Scavenger Hunt in Taunton, MA where we explored the history of the infamous Bridgewater Triangle and checked off a crazy list of scavenger hunt items and activities such as trying our hands at archery, eating a hot pepper, or finding a string of garlic. It was a blast and we can't wait to do it all again next year! 

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 and if our schedule aligns just right you'll find us at the Topsfield Fair too!
With the Halloween season underway 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 sister website Halloween New England has all your guides to nighttime events, attractions, haunted houses, night hayrides, Salem attractions, costumes, and Halloween fun.

New England Foliage Report from our favorite foliage tracker Jeff-Foliage:

This week Jeff Foliage says "What we're seeing so far is seasonal temps and sunny days but the fall colors are slowly appearing across Northern New England....."  Click here to read Jeff's full report.

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

The long weekend will offer you no shortage of fantastic local events. If you're headed out of town to another 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). 

Here are our recommended activities for Oct 7-Oct 13:

Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular at Roger William Zoo
Providence, RI     Click for details
Nightly, now through November 1st, 2015

Wee Faerie Village presents Whimsical Kingdoms
Old Lyme, CT     Click for details
Tuesday through Saturday, now through November 1st 2015

Topsfield Fair
Topsfield, MA     Click for details
Now through October 12th, 2015

Night Fall Hartford
Hartford, CT     Click for details
Saturday, October 10th, 2015

Damariscotta PumpkinFest and Regatta
Damariscotta, ME     Click for details
Friday, October 9th - Monday, October 12th, 2015

HONK! 2015 Festival of Activist Street Bands
Somerville, MA     Click for details
Friday October 9th - Sunday, October 11th, 2015

Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Frerichs Farm
Warren, RI     Click for details
Saturday, October 10th, 2015

New Hampshire Fall Festival
Portsmouth NH     Click for details
Saturday, October 10th, 2015

Fall Festival at Dog Mountain
St. Johnsbury, VT     Click for details
Saturday, October 10th, 2015

Annual North American Wife Carrying Championship
Newry, ME     Click for details
Saturday, October 10th, 2015

Prescott Park Chili Cook-Off
Portsmouth, NH     Click for details
Saturday, October 10th, 2015

Woodstock Foliage Walk
Woodstock, VT     Click for details
Saturday, October 10th, 2015

Annual Connecticut Garlic & Harvest Festival
Bethlehem, CT     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 10 & 11th, 2015

Woonsocket Autumnfest

Woonsocket, RI     Click for details
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 10-12th, 2015

Cranberry Harvest Celebration
Wareham, MA     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 10th & 11th, 2015

Milford NH Pumpkin Festival - FREE
Milford, NH     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 10th & 11th, 2015

Southington Apple Harvest Festival - FREE
Southington, CT     Click for details
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, October 9-11th, 2015

Apple Days Festival at Old Sturbridge Village
Sturbridge, MA     Click for details
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, October 10th -12th, 2015

Fall Foliage Festival 
Waterville Valley, NH     Click for details
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, October 10th -12th, 2015

Wild Bill's Halloween Festival
Middletown, CT     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 10 & 11th, 2015

Annual Pumpkin Festival at Cedar Circle Farm
East Thetford VT     Click for details
Sunday, October 11th, 2015

Massachusetts Cheese Festival
Boston, MA     Click for details
Sunday, October 11th, 2015

New England Cornhole Championship
Newry, ME     Click for details
Sunday, October 11th, 2015

Newburyport's Fall Harvest Festival
Newburyport, MA     Click for details
Sunday and Monday,  October 11 & 12th, 2015

An Evening With David Sedaris
Providence, RI     Click for details
Monday, October 12, 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, 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.