Kathy Romano’s Fall Activities List: Go To Guide for the Best Season of the Year
Kathy Romano’s Fall Activities List begins with suggestions that are fun for the whole family. Scroll down to find 2017 festivals, events & a few recommendations from additions:
1.) The Scarecrow Festival at Peddlers Village – The scarecrows are only part of the attraction in this popular scenic Bucks County spot. Peddlers Village is a great place to go on a sunny day. It’s filled with shopping, restaurants, and beautiful scenery!
2.) Freddy Hill Farm – Their Fallfest includes Hayrides to the pumpkin patch, pony rides, kids’ games, corn maze, giant slide, ice cream & pig races and two mini-golf courses!
3.) Shadybrook Farm in Yardley, PA – Great Halloween attractions and fall festival vibe. There is so much to do! Here is a pic of the pumpkin patch. Advice: finish your latte before getting on the tractor. Our favorite attraction is the giant bounce pillow! The have a bunch of bounce houses, pig races and apple and pumpkin picking. At the end of September, it turns into a haunted farm! But during the day the attractions are no scare. So kids can walk through the houses without being scarred for life. My 6 year old loves the 3D house! Hint: if you have little kids go during the week. Much less crowded and they can spend more time on the moon bounces and other attractions!
4.) Linvilla Orchards – So much to do here. Apple picking, pumpkins, hayrides, cider, playground, shopping, and more. Spend the day! Picture opportunity: hay chair surrounded by pumpkins is my favorite!
5.) The Count’s Halloween Spooktacular at Sesame Place – This is silly not scary! A character reads to the kids on the hayride through the parking lot, some rides/games are open, and a great parade. Picture opportunities with plenty of characters!
6.) Maple Acres Farm hayride in Plymouth Meeting – Great for small kids. Its a short ride and you get to see the farm animals. Grab a pumpkin and take advantage of the tractor for a picture of the kids.
7.) MerryMead Farm, Lansdale PA – The kids LOVED the corn maze. We walked around and saw all the animals. They have the most enormous pig we’ve ever seen! They have “The Lighting of the Great Pumpkin” event, which is a lot of fun for the kids. We love spending time at this farm however, I will make the drive there solely for the delicious ice cream they sell in their market. They sell it by the cone or the gallon!
8 and 9.) The Philadelphia Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo is always fun but Elmwood Park Zoo’s Harvest Fest is our favorite! It’s the perfect size zoo for young kids! They have done some recent updates to the attractions and have made the zoo even better. They have their own Boo at the Zoo even in addition to a lot of other fall events. This year, they have a drive-in movie showing, breakfast with animals, Brew Beer Garden and a Fire Smart event where the Norristown Fire Department sets up in the parking lot with activities for the kids, tours of the fire trucks, and they kids can operate a fire hose!
10.) Styers Orchards, Langhorne PA – Pick delicious Apples! We’ve been apple picking at a few different places, but these are the best tasting apples! They also have a great tractor for pictures!
11.) Harry Potter Weekend – This is new to our list this year, thanks to Nick McIlwain! It’s Harry Potter Weekend in Chestnut Hill! The festivities are Friday night and Saturday. Wands & Wizards Night begins at 6pm on Friday along Germantown Ave with Circus Aerialists, fortune tellers and photo booths. Then Chestnut Hill Harry Potter Festival begins at 10am on Saturday with lots of family friendly activities, stage performances, ice sculpting demonstrations and plenty of photo opps! We are so excited to attend this fall activity for the first time this year!
“As you can see, we are very busy and will call it a success if we can accomplish the majority of the list! You’ll also notice I’m all about the best picture opportunities!”
Fall Festivals & Scheduled Events:
Cream of the Scream Tour – Join The Preston & Steve Show on their annual Haunted Haunts Tour
Parkway 100: Sept 8 – Nov 16 – The Benjamin Franklin Parkway celebrates its centennial this year with a slew of special events, exhibitions, community discussions and more. Throughout the duration of the celebration, visitors can interact with installations set up along the Parkway and also enjoy themed exhibitions at cultural institutions like Eastern State Penitentiary and the Philadelphia Mormon Temple.
Brauhaus Schmitz Oktoberfest Lineup:
South Street Oktoberfest – Sept 16
Haddon Square Oktoberfest – Sept 30
23rd Street Armory Oktoberfest – Oct 6 – 8
The Glow: A Jack o’ Lantern Experience: Oct 6 – 29 – An enchanting wonderland of more than 5,000 hand carved, illuminated pumpkins transformed into beautiful landscapes, iconic figures and larger than life jack o’ lantern structures.
Deerfield Township Harvest Festival: Oct 5 – 8 – Live music, major bands, family night discount, amusement rides, games, and great food. A great event with lots of family fun.
Neighborhood Festivals:
Midtown Village Fall Festival (13th Street) – Oct 7
Old City Fest (3rd Street) – Oct 8
Bloktoberfest (South Street West) – Oct 14
South Jersey Pumpkin Show: Oct 13 – 15 – Held at Salem County Fairgrounds it feature live entertainment, wine sampling, food, a giant pumpkin pyramid, dog show, hayrides, Boo Barn, amusement rides, and of course lots of decorated pumpkins.
Philadelphia Film Festival: Oct 19 – 29 – The annual Philadelphia Film Festival showcases the best in independent and foreign cinema in theaters and venues around the city. Attendees take in short films, feature-length films, animated movies and special guest appearances.
Stratford Fall Festival: Oct 28 – FREE admission & parking, food, games, rides ($10 wristband), petting zoo–FREE, face & pumpkin painting, HUGE craft/business fair, photo booth, live entertainment on 2 stages, car show and much, much more!!. 5K supporting Autism NJ begins at 9am —registration at 8am directly across the street..(Rite Aid lot 100 Warwick Rd).
Listen to our discussion about Fall Activities for a deeper look at these events and a lot of laughs:
A few more audience additions:
10th Annual Scarecrow Walk & Design Contest – Morris Arboretum – visit the site for registration & deadline details
Pssst, if you are ready for Winter Activities, we have a list of those too [link]
