Scarecrow Festival, Pumpkins on the Pier, Ghostport, Star Party, and more: New England Fall Events Top Picks for Oct 14-20

As we head arrive mid-month, it's a glorious 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. 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 super fun 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

Our sister 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. We often forget that 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. They 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 service you wouldn't typically 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!

We love the color orange and it is a delight to see orange 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.

Fall Foliage Train Ride Contest
We're thrilled to share news of our newest contest to WIN a pair of tickets to the Blackstone Valley Fall Foliage Train Ride and Shopping Excursion to Putnam, CT on Saturday, October 24th. Hop on the foliage train in Woonsocket, RI and soak up the southern New England foliage on your ride to Putnam, CT where you'll enjoy their pumpkin festival, craft show, activities, tours, boutiques, antiques, and more. Spend a day in picturesque Putnam before catching your return train to RI later that afternoon. Enter our contest on New England Fall Events for to win these special tickets valued at $98.

Two of our Favorites-- The Wallingford Scarecrow Festival and Pumpkins on the Pier-- are coming up this weekend!

Two of our very favorite October events are coming up this weekend--both in Connecticut and both truly worth your time!
Saturday, October 17th is the date for the Wallingford CT Scarecrow Festival and the Pumpkins on the Pier in Milford, CT Both are super family-friendly festivals and are free to attend.
Most of the "extras" like games and crafts do cost extra but are extremely affordable and are contributing towards a fundraiser.

If you attend the Wallingford Scarecrow Festival, make sure you make a beeline to the Make-Your-Own-Scarecrow station where for only $10 you will have access to everything you need--a scarecrow stake, "head", endless clothes and accessories to make your scarecrow special and unique (all included!). We can't tell you how much we loved coming home with our very own scarecrow and to have it standing guard on our yard for the rest of the fall season. You'll find food trucks, vendors, hayrides, pumpkin patch, pumpkin and fall-themed games, crafts, moon bounce and much more. Read about our visit to the Wallingford Scarecrow Festival complete with family tips!

Pumpkins on the Pier features pumpkin displays (some carved, some decorated/painted) showcased by local families, small businesses and others. 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).

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

This week Jeff Foliage says "Columbus Day Weekend ends glorious but is the foliage over? I had been planning to get back up to Stowe and Smuggler's Notch for some time now. I have been waiting for words from anyone saying the fall colors had "Really" arrived but all was quiet. My worry is always that the foliage will be over before I have a chance to visit..." Click here to read Jeff's full report.

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

We're reaching the peak of the fall event season so 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). 

Here are our recommended activities for Oct 14-Oct 20:

Harvest on the Harbor
Portland, ME     Click for details
Wednesday, October 21st - Sunday, October 25th, 2015

Ikebana Show at Tower Hill Botanic Garden
Boylston, MA     Click for details
Friday, Saturday, Sunday October 16th-18th, 2015

Star Party at the Northern Skies Observatory 
Peacham, VT     Click for details
Friday, October 16th, 2015

Annual Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival
Glastonbury, CT     Click for details
Friday, Saturday, Sunday October 16th-18th, 2015

Goffstown Pumpkin Weigh-off and Regatta
Goffstown, NH     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 17th & 18th, 2015

Wallingford Scarecrow Festival - FREE
Wallingford, CT     Click for details
Saturday, October 17th, 2015 (rain date Oct 24th)
Read why New England Fall Events names this Scarecrow Festival a top event of the season!

Ballard Park Halloween Movie Night
Newport, RI     Click for details
Saturday, October 17th, 2015

Pumpkins on the Pier Festival - FREE
Milford, CT     Click for details
Saturday, October 17th, 2015 (rain date Oct. 18th)
Read why Pumpkins on the Pier is one of New England Fall Events' favorite festivals!

Ghostport
Bucksport, ME     Click for details

Saturday, October 17th, 2015

Nashua Gate City Fall Festival - FREE
Nashua, NH     Click for details
Saturday, October 17th, 2015

Fairies and Pirates Costume Contest (for kids age 11 and younger) at King Richard's Faire
Carver, MA     Click for details
Saturday, October 17th, 2015  (Rain date: Sunday, October 18th)
Never been to King Richard's Faire? Read our piece on what to expect and the fun you're in for!

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

Salem Harvest Fest - Beer, Wine, Mead Festival
Salem, MA     Click for details
Saturday, October 17, 2015

Wellfleet OysterFest
Wellfleet, MA     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 17 & 18th, 2015

Halloween Storybook Hayrides at DeMeritt Hill Farm
Lee, NH     Click for details

Saturday and Sunday, October 17th and 18th, 2015
Read about New England Fall Events' visit to DeMeritt Hill Farm.

Newburyport's Great Pumpkin Lighting & Stroll - FREE
Newburyport, MA     Click for details
Saturday, October 17, 2015

Time Travelers Weekend at the CT Renaissance Faire
North Haven, CT     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 17th and 18th, 2015

Annual Fall Princess Ball
Kingston, MA     Click for details
Saturday, October 17th, 2015

Somerville Local First Harvest Festival - FREE
Somerville, MA     Click for details
Saturday, October 17, 2015

Rhode Island Model Train Show
Pawtucket, RI     Click for details
Sunday, October 18, 2015

Ballet Spooktacular
Old Saybrook, CT     Click for details
Saturday and Sunday, October 17th & Oct 18th, 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 close to allow more time for fruit to ripen.

Frozen's Anna and Elsa, Faerie Village, Scarecrows, Ghostport, a Wicked Evening, and More: Top Events for Oct 15-21, 2014

We’re going to be straight with you—this is a BIG weekend for events this fall. 

If you were thinking of going to the movies this weekend or sleeping in, we suggest you rethink your plan. With a Thursday night game this week even the Patriots are cooperating to free up your weekend to take full advantage of the bounty of fall fun coming up.

We just posted dozens of new late fall events to the Fall Activities and Food Festivals Guides on New England Fall Events –more will continue to be added every day so check back often for even more terrific ideas lined up for every New England state. 

We’re excited that this Saturday, October 18^th is the Wallingford Scarecrow Festival-- one of our favorites of the year! Even if you have never made a scarecrow before, you will have your chance to create one from scratch and they’ll have all the goodies you could need to bring home a harvest friend to plant in your lawn. You can vote on scarecrow contest entries, and if you love crafts—making them or buying them—this festival has you covered. This year they’ll be featuring performances from FROZEN’s Anna and Elsa so your little Frozen fanatics will be delighted as can be.

If you missed it, you can read about our wonderful time last year at this festival and we’ve included useful family and festival tips for making the most of your visit.

We also want to highlight a special event featuring author Gregory Maguire and the composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz of the smash musical WICKED. This is a Tuesday night event so you may want plan ahead to take a trip to this special event in Hartford.

Details here.

You’ll notice from this week’s selection of Top Picks that the Halloween season is in full swing and many of the events have a Halloween theme or costume aspect to them. This is really just a drop in the bucket so be sure to visit New England Fall Events for a complete list of Food, Fall, and Harvest events for each New England state.

If you are looking for more Halloween and night activities, remember to visit our sister website Halloween New England for guides to local haunted houses and trails, ghost tours, haunted and flashlight corn mazes, night hayrides, costume guide, a Salem guide and more.

Pumpkins Abound!  New England Fall Events has compiled guides to Pumpkin Patches and PYO Pumpkins for every New England state. Remember to support your local farms by purchasing your pumpkins from your local farm’s harvest—everybody wins when you do! Quick and Easy Guide to Pumpkin Patches in New England.

Where is New England Fall Events Headed this Weekend?

We, like you, will have a hard time narrowing down where we end up—there is SO much to fit in! We’re eyeing the Goffstown Weigh-off & Pumpkin Regatta and the Newburyport Great Pumpkin & Lighting Stroll, We’ll be spending our evenings on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday covering night attractions for our companion website Halloween New England .

VT's most photographed farm - Jenne Farm in 2014 foliage

New England Foliage Report from Jeff-Foliage:

This week Jeff Foliage gives us a report from Jenne Farm, which has the distinction of being Vermont’s most photographed farm.

"5:00AM came way too early on Friday and Lisa and I (she’s a great trooper, BTW) made our way to join the throng of photographers at the Jenne farm. Maybe I should call it a murder of photographers? Why? read on…"
Click here to read Jeff's full report.

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

Here's a sample of some wonderful events to keep on your radar heading into the weekend! Find even more terrific events listed on every New England state’s Fall & Activities guide and Food & Harvest Festival Guide.

Here are our recommended activities for Oct 15-21:

Wallingford Scarecrow Festival -appearances by FROZEN’s Anna and Elsa – FREE

Wallingford, CT  Click for details.

Saturday, October 18^th, 2014
Read why we LOVE the Wallingford Scarecrow Festival.

Trick or Treat FROZEN Corn Maze at Smolak Farms

North Andover, MA  Click for event details.

Saturday & Sunday, October 18^th & 19^th, 2014

Hallowlantern Hayride at C.N. Smith Farm
East Bridgewater, MA   Click for event details.

Friday through Sunday, Oct 17^th – 19^th, 2014

Ghostport – FREE

Bucksport, ME   Click for event details.

Saturday, October 18^th, 2014

Wee Faerie Village in a Steampunk'd Wonderland

Old Lyme, CT   Click for event details.

Tuesday through Sunday, now through November 2^nd, 2014

Food Truck and Beer Festival
at Six Flags New England

Agawam, MA   Click for event details.

Saturday, October 18^th, 2014

Masquerade Tween Night

New Milford, CT  Click for event details.

Friday, October 17^th, 2014

Howl-o-ween at the Beardsley Zoo

Bridgeport, CT   Click for event details.

Saturday & Sunday, October 18^th & 19^th, 2014

Ballet Spooktacular
Old Saybrook, CT  Click for event details.

Saturday, October 18^th, 2014

 

Bike Boulevard Scavenger Hunt – FREE

Glastonbury, CT   Click for event details.

Sunday, October 19^th, 2014  

Goffstown Pumpkin Weigh-off and Regatta
Goffstown, NH  Click for event details.

Saturday & Sunday, October 18^th & 19^th, 2014

Pumpkin Festival at Lanni Orchards  – FREE 

Lunenburg, MA  Click for event details.

Saturday & Sunday, October 18^th & 19^th, 2014

Bowen’s Wharf Seafood Festival – FREE
Newport, RI  Click for event details.

Saturday & Sunday, October 18^th & 19^th, 2014

Adult CosPlay and Costume Contest
at King Richards Faire 
Carver, MA   Click for event details.

Saturday, October 18^th, 2014 (rain date: Oct 19^th)

Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival– FREE

Glastonbury, CT   Click for event details.

Friday through Sunday, October 17^th – 19^th, 2014

Cabot Apple Pie Festival

Cabot, VT   Click for event details.

Saturday, October 18^th, 2014

CT Cheese and Wine Festival
Milford, NH   Click for event details.

Saturday, October 18^th, 2014

A WICKED Cool Evening! with Gregory Maguire and Stephen Schwartz
Hartford, CT  Click for event details.

Tuesday, October 21^st, 2014

Heading out apple picking this weekend? New England Fall Events has complete guides, features, maps, and contact info for New England PYO apple orchards. Here are your quick links to the apple picking guides:

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

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.
Orchard and fall attraction maps for:
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Remember, it's always smart to call ahead before heading to your PYO location as some farms will adjust their hours to accomodate weather or to give extra time for fruit to ripen.

The Wallingford Scarecrow Festival is Cheerful Fall Fun in CT

A scarecrow competitor -Can you
tell which is human and which is hay?

New England Fall Events traveled to our first Scarecrow Festival and what a gem we'd uncovered in Wallingford! 

This special New England festival was tucked away in a residential neighborhood and hosted on the grounds of the Zion Lutheran Church in Wallingford, CT. We don't see as many Scarecrow Festivals on the fall schedule as so this was circled on the calendar early in the season. 

This festival had plenty of parking situated between the front and the back lawns. The expansive front lawn was set up with plenty of make-and-take craft projects for a small fee--perfect for kids and adults alike. The activities were more thoughtful than your run-of-the-mill children’s crafts which reflected the care that the organizers had given to this special event. The crafts were optional and you could simply purchase tickets for the ones you wished to do—all very affordable. 

A very hopeful Red Sox "fan"
in the scarecrow competition

The main attraction of the festival is, of course, the scarecrow. The competition and the make-your-own scarecrow area are the top reasons to make a trip here--a good excuse for a fun road-trip. Never having made a scarecrow ourselves before (seriously!), we were thrilled to not only learn about how to make them but the scarecrow contest submissions on full display across the lawn also demonstrated just how creative and inspired a scarecrow could be. 

Delighted at the chance to make our own scarecrow to take home, we gladly forked over the $10 fee. Everything we could need to make a unique scarecrow was already there waiting for us.

We began by selecting a wooden cross made from 2x4s which were all stacked against a tree for our choosing. With different heights to the scarecrow base, you could opt to make a child-size scarecrow or something taller. Each cross had a gallon milk bottle inverted on the top wrapped with white fabric and fastened with twine. This milk bottles served the purpose of the scarecrow’s head. Having decided on a medium-sized scarecrow “body”, we set about creating the body.

Trying different clothes on our
scarecrow to help it come alive

The make-your-own scarecrow area had perhaps 6-8 giant piles of clothes—a pile of dresses, a pile of jeans, pants, sport coats, dresses, shirts, old Halloween costumes, etc. There was adult- and child-sized clothing which was handy to accommodate different types of scarecrows. There were also a few tables with boxes of ties, wigs, costume jewelry, hats, ribbons, and more. We were invited to scour all the piles and dig through boxes to find the right clothing to help us convey our scarecrow’s personality. There was no limit to the number of types of items you could choose to add to your “person”. There were one or two festival volunteers supervising this area and offered helpful guidance for those of us who’d never made a scarecrow before. 

Fastening the clothing and
accessories on the scarecrow.

Initially we debated whether we wanted to make a classic scarecrow—overalls and plaid shirt—but eventually, we settled on a “girl” with a long-sleeved undershirt, a plaid buttoned-up shirt, a pair of jeans, and a floppy orange hat. The volunteer showed us where to tie the undershirt on and she showed us how to begin stuffing the undershirt body and arms with hay. We repurposed a brown raffia hula skirt for the scarecrow’s hair and tied two pigtails with ribbons before fastening on the hat.

We had a blast making our own scarecrow and it was equally joyous watching the kids and their parents make their own creation come to life. With so many clothing and accessories available, there were limitless possibilities to make a very unique “person” to take home. 

Pile and piles of clothes, jewelry, masks,
and wigs to help create your scarecrow 

The competition submissions were on full display on the front lawn and festival attendees were encouraged to vote for their favorites. The scarecrows we saw were very creative and full of good humor and some recycled plastic pumpkins as heads while others took a more traditional approach. The Red Sox scarecrow "kneeling" with hopeful clasped hands gave everyone a good chuckle. 

We were very pleased with the scarecrow we made but it’s clear that we’ve got a long way to go before we reach competition caliber!

Also worth mentioning are the ongoing hayrides and giant craft vendor area on the back lawn of the property. There were many homemade crafts for sale from local vendors and a handful of food items such as jams, canned goods, and honey. 

There was a single food truck parked in front called Spuds to You which offered BBQ pulled pork, baked potato toppings, burgers and more. It's nice there was an on-sire lunch option but as we were there for about 90 minutes in the morning, we didn't stay long enough for lunch. 

A classic type scarecrow
featured in the competition.

This festival is truly worth your time. It's a not-too-crowded and genuinely fun family festival. There is plenty for kids to do, space to roam, and the front lawn is set off the road so it’s quite safe for kids. 

The crafts will keep your children busy and happy, and the hayride is a great diversion too. All the extras (hayride, crafts, make-your-own scarecrows) can be purchased a la carte and all “extras” were reasonably affordable. Apparently, there was an inflatable moonwalk, live music, and a puppet show but we must have been so absorbed in our scarecrow that we missed them. The festival takes place between 10am and 3pm and we attended in the morning. The property is stroller-friendly but you’ll be mostly on grass.

Hand carved foam pumpkin crafts
for sale at the festival.

We especially appreciated that the mission of this festival was a special fundraiser held by the Zion Lutheran Church where they stated "the net proceeds from this year’s Scarecrow Festival will be donated to Fisher House which builds housing near VA hospitals for our veterans. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful time - during the hospitalization for a combat injury, illness or disease." We couldn't think of a better purpose and thank them for their efforts to support our veterans and their families.

We had a blast at this special fall festival and we left feeling inspired to see a scarecrow festival come to our own community. Our sweet scarecrow girl graced our front lawn at the entrance to our driveway. She was a cheerful bright spot in our neighborhood and we confess we didn’t take her down until mid-winter because we enjoyed her so much. 

Here's our listing for this year’s festival.

Wallingford Scarecrow Festival Tips:

• This super fun, festive, and creative attraction is totally free for you to enjoy but to partake in the crafts, hayride, inflatables, or scarecrow making, you’ll want to bring cash or a check. 

• The ticket booth accepted cash and checks as well. 

• Wear sunscreen and bug/tick repellant. The weather was gorgeous when we attended but aside from a few shady areas, most everything is under the direct sun.

• There’s plenty of lawn for you to spread out. Consider bringing a blanket for the kids to spread out on to listen to the music or to have a “home base”.

• The festival is stroller-friendly and everything takes place on grass.

• The only bathrooms available are inside the church and they are available for your use. They were spotlessly clean, ADA Accessible, and there was a Koala-Kare changing table for the little ones. 

• Free parking.