As summer turns to autumn, harvest time returns and with it, the annual celebrations culminating in fall festivals across Long Island.
The events include gatherings dedicated to apples, garlic—even pickles—although most are simply dedicated to all things fall, such as scarecrows, corn husking and jack ‘o lantern making.
Here are more than 60 fall fairs in Nassau and Suffolk counties scheduled through October:
Long Island Fair
Continuing a 173-year tradition, this is one of America’s oldest agricultural festivals and is so big it can’t be limited to one weekend. Contestants can face off in corn-husking and scarecrow building events in addition to guessing the weight of a giant pumpkin. Attractions include a petting zoo, live music and dancing as well as pony, tractor and carnival rides. Fairgoers will also find magic shows, stilt walkers, puppets, juggling, storytelling, Civil War reenactments and other historical demonstrations. Not to mention all the mouthwatering fall fair foods, such as candied apples, pumpkins, organic veggies, fresh-made candy, giant turkey legs and funnel cakes. Old Bethpage Village Restoration, 1303 Round Swamp Rd., Old Bethpage. lifair.org $12 adults, $8 seniors and kids ages 5-12, kids under 5 free, $5 senior citizen Fridays, $7 10 a.m.-noon Early Bird Special. 10 a.m.-5p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Friday. The fair runs Sept. 25, 26, 27 and Oct. 2, 3 and 4.
Harvest Day Festival
This annual event will have costumed trade and craft people demonstrating candle making, beekeeping, blacksmithing, basketry, decoy carving and many other traditional skills. Southampton Historical Museum, 17 Meeting House Lane, Southampton. southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org Free. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept 26.
Valley Stream Community Fest
This annual, one-day celebration of the uniqueness of Valley Stream through its culture,
visual and performing arts, food, service organizations and activities is geared toward families and one truly fun-filled day. Rockaway Avenue between Sunrise Hwy. and Merrick Rd., Valley Stream. vscommunityfest.com Free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 26.
St. Margaret’s Fall Fair
Games, vendors, food, antiques, bounce house, raffles and prizes. St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 1000 Washington Ave., Plainview. stmargaretepiscopal.org Free. 10 a.m. -4 p.m. Sept. 26.
Wildwood Fall Festival
Arts and crafts, magicians, music, petting zoo, pony rides and face painting! A great time indeed! Wildwood State Park, Hulse Landing Rd., Wading River. www.nysparks.com $10 parking, free with Empire Pass. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 26.
Fish Hatchery Fall Festival
A pumpkin patch, petting zoo, live music, bounce castle, games, food, live animal encounters, and fishing for kids 12 and under. 1660 Route 25A, Cold Spring Harbor. cshfa.org $6 adults, $4 kids and seniors, members free. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sept. 26.
Festival by the Sea
Live music, great food, inflatable rides, children’s shows, clam-eating and rib-eating contests, sand sculptures, pony rides, circus acts, games and give-aways, a petting zoo and more! Lido Beach Town Park, 630 Lido Blvd., Lido Beach. toh.li Free. 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sept. 26, Sept. 27.
Fall Garden and Harvest Festival
This annual event features horticultural displays and demonstrations, kid-friendly activities, food, live music, tours of the dahlia garden, a model-train exhibit, local artisans and vendors, pumpkin painting and hayrides. Bayard Cutting Arboretum, 440 Montauk Hwy. Great River. bayardcuttingarboretum.com $15 per car, $7 with Empire Passport. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 26, Sept. 27.
Merrick Fall Festival and Street Fair
Games, rides, food, crafts, jewelry. Chamber of Commerce, adjacent to the LIRR train station, Merrick. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 26, Sept. 27.
Septemberfest
“A Modern Harvest of Fun,” including art, music, dance, food, a chowder contest and the history of the community. Agwam Park, 23 Main St., Southampton. southamptonseptfest.org Free. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 26, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 27.
Seaford Annual Harvest Fair
Check out the pumpkin patch, food, pastries, crafts, raffles, entertainment, and the scarecrow contest! Seaford Historical Museum, 3890 Waverly Ave., Seaford. seafordhistoricalsociety.org Free. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 27.
Village Day Fall Festival
A petting zoo, pony rides and pumpkin painting are just some of the festivities planned. There will also be award-winning artisanal cheeses, fresh baked goods, apple cider and Horman pickles. Guggenheim Estate Golden Honey from the Preserve’s hives has been harvested in time for the fair. Pizza and refreshments available. Be sure to take a hayride around the Great Lawn to enjoy the foliage. Sands Point Preserve, 127 Middle Neck Rd., Sands Point. thesandspointpreserve.com $20 per car, $10 with pass 12-5 p.m. Sept. 27.
West Islip Country Fair
More than 300 craft vendors, along with line dancing and square dancing, children’s bounce house and slide, petting zoo, a magician, face painting, sand art, food, music and more. West Islip Library Grounds, Higbie Lane and Montauk Hwy., West Islip. westislipcountryfair.com Free. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 27.
Caleb Smith Preserve Fall Festival
Enjoy the outdoors at this second annual festival with nature and bird-watching tours, honey-bee and fly-fishing demonstrations, Native American and colonial reenactments, as well as more standard entertainment such as antique cars, face painting and of course, food and ice cream. Caleb Smith State Park Preserve, 581 W Jericho Tpke., Smithtown. friendsofcalebsmith.org $10/car. 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sept. 27.
Fall Harvest Festival
Hay rides? Check. Live music? Check again. Corn maze, face painting, inflatable rides and pick your own pumpkins? Check, check, check and check again. This month-long, weekends-only fall fest has all that and more! Borellas Farm Stand, 485 Edgewood Ave., St. James. borellasfarmstand.com $12. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday in October though Columbus Day.
Levittown Fall Family Festival and Street Fair
Petting zoo, entertainment, pumpkin patch, crafts, exhibits, face painting and raffles? Uh, can you say, “Sign us up!”? Veterans Memorial Park, Shelter Lane, Levittown. levittownchamber.com Free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 3
Sayville Apple Festival
Apple-themed cooking contests, carnival, live music as well as arts and crafts. The Islip Grange, Broadway Ave., Sayville. Free.10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Oct. 3.
Lynbrook Expo
Car show, rides, games, vendors, food and live entertainment. Greis Park, 55 Wilbur St., Lynbrook. greaternewyorkregion.org/event/lynbrook-expo/ Free. 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Oct. 3.
Amityville Apple Festival
The freshest New York State apples will be on sale while festival goers can enjoy live music at the Showmobile, a DJ at the Gazebo, sidewalk sale, magician, children’s craft area and more. An antique sale will be held in Lauder Museum parking lot. Park Avenue Memorial School, 140 Park Ave., Amityville. Facebook.com/AmityvilleAppleFestival 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 3.
Pumpkin Fest 2015 Cornell Cooperative Extension Long Island Autumn Festival
Live music, pumpkin picking and decorating, carnival rides and games, wagon rides and more! Suffolk County Farm & Education Center, 350 Yaphank Ave., Yaphank. longislandbrowser.com 11 a.m. Oct. 3, Oct. 4
Fall Family Festival Weekend
Bounce house and potato sack races for the kids, beer tastings for the grownups, Billy Joel tribute band for everyone to enjoy! Also “trick or treating” and a costume parade. Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park, Oyster Bay. plantingfields.org $20/vehicle. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 3, Oct. 4
San Gennaro Feast of the Hamptons
Rides, music, arts and crafts and lots of luscious, sauce-drenched, soul-soothing Italian food. Don’t miss the Grucci fireworks display on Saturday night! Hampton Bays train station, Good Ground Round, Hampton Bays. SanGennaroFeastOfTheHamptons.com 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Oct. 3, Oct. 4.
Fall Festival
What was colonial life like? Find out at the Fall Festival at Sagtikos Manor. Watch the 3rd NY Revolutionary Regiment perform maneuvers. Then take a cemetery tour and listen to the history of the family members who reside there. Activities include crafts for children, old-fashioned games and other historic activities. Sagtikos Manor, Montauk Hwy. between Manor Lane and Gardiner Drive, West Bay Shore. sagtikosmanor.com $7/person or $25/family of 4, free under 3. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Oct. 4.
Plainview-Old Bethpage Craft & Gift Fair
Arts and crafts plus local artisans offering endless possibilities of gifts: birthdays, holidays, and every days? C’mon. You know this is the spot! Old Country Road, Plainview. nassaucountycraftshows.com Free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 4.
Babylon Fall Festival
Hay rides, a pumpkin patch, petting zoo, live music, fresh food and face painting. Town Hall Park, 200 East Sunrise Hwy., Lindenhurst. townofbabylon.com Free. 12-3 p.m. Oct. 10.
Family Fall and Halloween Festival
Fall is the season for family fun, whether it’s heading down to the pumpkin patch with the lil ones, gathering round the campfire with some hot, steaming pumpkin lattes, or just simply enjoying a fresh, piping hot home-baked pumpkin pie together. Syosset-Woodbury Community Park, 7800 Jericho Tpke., Woodbury. oysterbaytown.com Free. 1-4 p.m. Oct. 10.
Plant & Sing
People gather to plant garlic and harvest fall crops, transforming the fields and the work itself with festive songs, dances, recitations and meals. When the work is done, it’s time to enjoy the world-class festival of Bluegrass and Traditional American Music on the expansive waterfront lawn. On Saturday night you can BYOB for the crab boil and garlic shuck while you jam out to to the music. Sunday will have music all day long, plus food trucks, kids’ activities, demonstrations and a lot more!. Sylvester Manor, 55 Manhanset Rd., Shelter Island Heights. plantandsing.com $25 for Saturday night, $40 for Sunday, kids under 12 free. 6 p.m. Oct. 10, 9 a.m.-late night Oct. 11.
Mill Neck Manor Fall Harvest Festival
Also known as Apple Fest, attendees here can visit the Cheese House, a country store, raffles, children’s games as well as arts and crafts. There’s seasonable produce and grilled bratwurst, but they had us at “Cheese House.” Lol. Mill Neck Manor, 40 Frost Mill Rd., Mill Neck. millneck.org Free. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 10, 11.
Fall Arts & Crafts Show
Paintings, pottery, photography, jewelry, wood furniture, shell art, blown glass, stained glass, metal work – every type of art you can think of will be showcased at this annual event. Great opportunity to do all your holiday shopping at one place! Village Green, Main Street, Westhampton. whbcc.org Free. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 11.
Deepwells Fall Festival
Pumpkin painting, picking and pony rides as well as hayrides, old-fashioned games arts and crafts. Deepwells, 2 Taylor Lane, St. James. stjameschamber.org 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 10, 11.
Montauk Fall Festival
This festival kicks off with their famous clam chowder contest at 11 a.m. on Saturday. It includes crab races, rides, a farmers’ market, live music and incorporates elements of Octoberfest with Long Island craft brews. Village green, Montauk Highway, Montauk. montaukchamber.com Free. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 10, 11.
Long Beach Fall Festival
This annual celebration has it all: a pumpkin patch, a haunted house, a bounce house, a petting zoo, a ferris wheel, pony rides, hay rides, arts and crafts and a costume contest. Come down for some serious fun! Kennedy Plaza, Park Avenue between National Boulevard and Centre Street, Long Beach. longbeachny.gov $15 per day, $25 weekend pass. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 10, 11.
Huntington Long Island Fall Festival
The music, food and carnival start Friday, joined Saturday and Sunday by contests, vendors and arts and crafts before one last day of food and rides Monday. Heckscher Park, 164 Main St., Huntington. lifallfestival.com Free. 5-10 p.m. Oct. 9, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Oct. 10 & 11, 11 a.m.- 5p.m. Oct. 12.
Riverhead Country Fair
Vegetable decorating contest, carnival rides, folk music, tractor pulls, plus hundreds of arts and crafts vendors. Main Street, Riverhead. riverheadcountryfair.com Free, not including fees for some rides and activities. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 11.
Harvest Festival
Good music, hayrides, pumpkin picking, cider making and more! Benner’s Farm, 56 Gnarled Hollow Rd., East Setauket. bennersfarm.com $8 adults, $6 kids. 12 p.m.-4 p.m., Oct. 11.
Fall Family Fishing Festival
Event includes a casting contest, fly-fishing instruction, pumpkin decorating, an exotic animal show, magic show, face painting, pony rides, free bait and fish-cleaning services. Displays by Trout Unlimited, DEC Environmental Education, State Parks as well as other fishing and environmental organizations. Prior to the festival, the New York State parks department will stock South and McDonald Ponds with hundreds of brook and rainbow trout. Hempstead Lake State Park, Lakeside Dr., West Hempstead. nysparks.com/parks/31 Free. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Oct. 17.
Oyster Festival
Billed as the largest annual outdoor festival and the biggest waterfront fest on the East Coast with about 200,000 attendees on average, the 31st oyster fest is back. The lineup includes tall ships, pirate shows and carnival rides. Aside from oysters prepared every way imaginable, it also features the famous oyster-shucking contest. How many shucks can a woodchuck shuck if a woodchuck could shuck wood? Sorry. Tried, anyway. Theodore Roosevelt Park, West End Avenue, Oyster Bay. theoysterfestival.org Free, fees for rides. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 17, 18.
Seaford Fall Festival
Have you ever stumbled across something so amazing you’ve just got to get out there and tell all your friends, all your relatives, people you don’t even know? This annual smorgasbord of arts and crafts offers visitors a diverse collection of everything from vinyl records to antique toys, lamps and so much more! Check it out! Then tell everyone you know, too. Seaford train station, Sunrise Highway, Seaford. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 17, 18.
Huntington Apple Festival
Scarecrow making, hayrides, music, old-timey games as well as arts and crafts—plus lots and lots of apples. Tough to beat, for sure. Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum, 434 Park Ave., Huntington. huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org Free. 12-4 p.m. Oct. 18.
Pumpkin Fest
This ninth annual event features pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins and… Wait for it. Wait for it. More pumpkins! And we love pumpkins! Islandia Village Hall, 100 Old Nichols Rd., Islandia. newvillageofislandia.com Free. 12-3 p.m. Oct. 24.
Family Fall and Halloween Festival
Celebrate the arrival of the fall season with fun activities for children and adults alike, including Halloween a hayride, crafts, bouncies (!!), photo opportunities, games, hot, piping apple cider and popcorn! Additionally, there’ll be a ‘U-Pick’ pumpkin patch for children so they can survey and pick their very own pumpkin, as well as decorate them! Children are encouraged to come in costumes, of course! Marjorie Post Community Park, Merrick Road, Massapequa. oysterbaytown.com Free. 1-4
p.m. Oct. 24.
Great Jack-o’-Lantern Spectacular
In addition to contestants setting sail to their Jack-o’-Lantern, there will be a kid-friendly spooky house, balloon twisting, arts and crafts, trick or treating, “funny fotos,” games and more. Participation limited to the first 50 carved pumpkins. Jack-o’-Lanterns will set sail at 6 p.m. Participating pumpkins must be between the size of a soccer ball and a basketball and must be dropped off between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on the day of the event. Belmont Lake State Park, Southern State Pwk exit 38, North Babylon. nysparks.com/parks/88 $8 parking, free with Empire Pass. 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 24.
Rockville Centre Fall Festival
Fall is worth celebrating! It’s been that way since ancient times. Great people, great food, amazing arts and crafts and so much more will help usher in this joyous time of the year at this annual festival. Rockville Centre train station, Long Beach Road. rvcny.us Free. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 24, 25.
Rock Hall Country Fair
Country music, line dancing, blacksmithing, basket weaving, colonial historians, a harvest market, scarecrow making, pumpkin patch, arts and crafts, animal farm, antique cars…. Are you sold yet on attending this awesome event? Rock Hall Museum, 199 Broadway, Lawrence. toh.li Free. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Oct. 24, 25.
Oktoberfest
Enjoy Long Island craft beers, live music, pumpkin picking, farm tours, arts and crafts and more at the East End’s only Oktoberfest! Garden of Eve Organic Farm, 4558 Sound Ave., Riverhead. gardenofevefarm.com $15 adults. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Oct. 24, 25.
Harvest Fest
Aside from the usual fall fest fare such a pumpkin painting, arts and crafts and live music, this unique festival also includes a chowder crawl, costumed dog parade (2 p.m.) and a haunted building walking tour. Chowder, dogs and haunted houses!? This is the place to be! Main Street, Port Jefferson. portjeffchamber.com Free. 12-5 p.m. Oct. 25.
Garden City South Street Fair
This 15th annual event will be the best yet! Handmade crafts, unique merchandise, inflatable rides, great food, entertainment. Nassau Blvd., Garden City. lifeonlongisland.com Free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 25.
Halloween Boat Burning
In this local annual tradition, a boat that has been deemed too-unsafe-to-sail is set ablaze in sacrifice while thousands watch from the shore. Fear not! Festivities include raffles, snacks, hot apple cider and live music. Long Island Maritime Museum, 88 West Ave., West Sayville. limaritime.org Free 5-9 p.m. Oct. 30.
Long Island Antique Book, Paper and Art Fair
Books are the heart and soul of the human cultural experience. They record, they enlighten and they inspire. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind collision of the written word and arts and crafts that will make your heart bend and soul absolutely just break out into song and sing, sing, sing! Hofstra University, Hempstead Tpke., Hempstead. pekaleshows.com Free. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 31, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 1.
— Compiled by Desiree D’iorio
