Annual Fall Festivals to Explore

Crisp, sunny, days filled to the brim with fun, foliage, and food. This is why I love celebrating my favorite season at a fall festival. They’re the perfect low humidity days to get out and do something. You have lots of variety to choose from and I look forward to taking photos of each one.

Due to covid some festivals may not be occuring.

September

Beginning of September

Harvest Festival

Sept. 10. 2022. A great family friendly festival for kids of all ages at the Enfield Shaker Musuem. I love how many different activities there were where kids could try or do something. My kiddos especially liked that they could take home what they made. Take a horse drawn wagon ride around the property, make a broom and see one being made, turn the crank on the ice cream machine and sample some homemade ice cream, churn some butter, pet some goats, make a bracelet, decorate a crown, listen to music, or play some old fashioned games. Lots of volunteers on hand to help at the stations and the kiddos had a blast. It was nice to be able to go inside as well to explore to get out of the heat. $25 for a family.

LebFest

Saturday, September 17 at Colburn Park. 11 am – 3 pm A FREE event with live music, a live animal presentation, games, mac & cheese competition and more.

Glory Days Festival

Sept. 7-8, 2019. See inside a train, take a train ride, food, music and kids’ activities (bouncy house, face painting, balloons and more). My son loved the train rides. Sat. 10 am – 4 pm, Sun. 10 am – 1 pm train rides only. $5-15. More info. Canceled 2022.

Tunbridge Fair

Sept. 15-18. 2022. The Tunbridge Fair is well known in the area as a great fair and an official end of summer thing to do. It has been going on for over 150 years.

End of September

19th Century Apple and Cheese Festival

Sept. 25, 2022. Winner of Top 10 things to do in the fall by VT Chamber of Commerce.Enjoy old fashioned games, wagon rides, wander a trail, get your face painted, listen to live music, sample apples and cheese, and check out the exhibits at the Morrill Homestead in Strafford. 1 pm – 4 pm $5 adults, under 15 free.

October

You’ll find most fall festivals on Columbus Day weekend. Make a day trip of it and try multiple ones in a day or rotate through them each year until you’ve tried them all!

Columbus Day Weekend

Ludlow Harvest Fair

Oct. 5, 2019. Ludlow Harvest Fair has arts and crafts, food, and music. Ludlow Elementary School. 10 am. May not occur in 2021.

Claremont Chili Cook Off

Oct. 2, 2021. Grab a spoon and sample tasty chilis at the Claremont Chili Cookoff. You can read more about what experience is like (with pictures) at my post here. $5 per adult and $3 per kid to sample chili. 10 am.

Autumn Moon Fall Festival

Sept 24, 2021. The Autumn Moon Fall Festival is a popular late afternoon into the evening festival in Windsor. Fireworks, music, food, cariciture artist, Kids Zone, fire dancers, balloon artists and more. People really enjoy it. Starts at 4 pm.

Community Fall Festival

Sat. Sept. 24, 2022. Bellows Falls.

Fairy House Festival

Sept. 24, 2022. Check out the Fairy House Festival at the Nature Museum in Grafton, VT.

Bradford Celebration Day & Fireworks

9 am – 9 pm.

Middle of October

Warner Fall Festival

Oct. 8-10, 2021. The Warner Fall Festival is one of my favorite fall festivals because of all the variety. Crafts, music and dancing, food, oxen and woodsmen contests, kids activities, a 5K and fun run, parades, BBQ, and even museums to check out. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. The telephone museum is really interesting! You can see the list of events here to see if it’s your thing. Things kick off at 6 pm on Friday, and enjoy a full day of festivities starting with a country breakfast at 7 am on Sat. Admission is free and parking is $5. There’s a shuttle that takes people to the festival from the field. There’s plenty of parking and it’s never felt overly crowded.

Harpoon Octoberfest

October 12-13, 2019. Harpoon has Octoberfest. Octoberfest has great food, oompah music, and lots of Harpoon beer. 12 pm – 5 pm. Free. No longer occuring.

Billings Harvest Weekend

October 9-10, 2021. Billings Farm has Harvest Weekend.You could learn about harvesting and storing root vegetables, and join in the barn dance at the Harvest Weekend at Billings. 10 am – 5 pm. Shuck corn at 12, join the barn dance at 1, thresh grain, press cider, shell peas, dig for potatoes, play 19th century games, and visit the animals. $16 adults $4-9 for kids depending on age.

Grafton’s Gargantuan Garlic Gathering

Oct. 12, 2019. At the Grafton Public Library celebrate garlic at the Grafton’s Gargantuan Garlic Gathering! What’s at a garlic gathering? Garlic soup, garlic bread, apple pressing, live music, corn hole (garlic theme), apple pie contest, garlic soup contest, Scariest Vampire Contest, and a vampire photobooth. 11 am – 3 pm. No longer occuring?

Cedar Circle Pumpkin Festival

Oct. 13, 2019. I love the Cedar Circle Pumpkin Festival . Find the best pumpkin in the field. This is a super kid friendly festival: enjoy arts and crafts, wagon rides, hay bale climb, explore how worms live, see a solar powered bubble maker, and presentation by VINS, and more. I especially loved the food! It was not included in the price of the festival but man was it worth it when I went. When I went there were tasty soups and a crepery. Great music too! This year there’s pizza, grilled cheese, and locally made dishes and treats from the farm. 10 am – 3 pm. $10-15 a car suggested donation. They are having harvest weekends to enjoy the farm instead of a festival in 2021.

Enfield Craft Beverage and Cheese Festival

Oct. 13, 2019. At the Enfield Craft Beverage and Cheese Festival sample local ciders, wines, and beers. There will be homemade apple pies, local cheeses and apples. A sampler’s delight as you listen to live music. Stuff yourself with the delicious foods from the food trucks that will also be there. Children will have activities to participate in and you can have museum tours too. A day for all to enjoy! 11 – 4 pm. Adults $12, Children $5-8 depending on age. Familes of 3+ $25. Not occurring in 2021.

Pig Roast at Mt. Sunapee

October 12-13, 2019. Check out the Pig Roast at Mt. Sunapee with tons of free activities: wagon rides, pumpkin carving, disc golf, inflatable obstacle course, giant slide, music, scavenger hunt, and of course ham. The adventure park is open too from 10 am- 4 pm. I’m adding this to my list of festivals to try. Not occuring this year.

More Fall Festivals!

List of annual festivals in NH: NH Magaine

List of annual festivals in VT: Find and Seek Site

Oct. 21, 2018. Pumpkin Chuckin’ at Loudon. 8 am. Not occuring 2021.

This is a unique event each fall: Springfield Steampunk Festival. May not be occuring 2021.

You can also try the Chester and Peru Fall Festivals at the end of Sept., about an hour away. The drive is amazing and worth it in itself.

Charlestown also has a fall festival the weekend Friday, October 22, starting at 6:00pm and goes until Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 3:00pm.

In years past these festivals occurred.

Hoping to have more fall festival fun in 2022. We’ll have to get creative at home and with friends this year. Why not create your own fall festival? Hmm…I might just do that.

Mac and Cheese Festival

Sept. 13, 2020. At Artisan Park in Windsor. No longer occuring. Check out LebFest for mac and cheese now.

King Arthur Flour Fall Festival

Sept. 14, 2019. No longer occuring.

Forest Festival

Sept. 21-22, 2019. At the Forest Festival take a wagon ride, try your hand at crafts, watch a wood working demonstration, take a hike, or learn about the forest. I love the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock. It’s so relaxing, refreshing, and interesting. I’ll add this to my to do list to go to with the kids. 11 am – 4 pm. Free. Not occuring in 2022.