Hurray For Harvest Time: RI’s Fair and Festival Preview
Celebrate autumn’s bounty of apples and pumpkins, warm and wooly clothing, and fun harvest-time activities at fairs, festivals and farms throughout the RI region. If history and house tours are more your thing, take advantage of fundraising events from Hudson River Heritage and Winnakee Land Trust. Cyclists should check out Northwest Connecticut's Tour des Farms on Saturday, Oct. 6. Whatever you choose, the colors of fall in the Northeast make almost any event all the more enchanting.
Saturday, Sept. 29 | Chatham Farm & Art Tour Help the Chatham Agricultural Partnership keep Chatham farming by taking a self-guided bike or car tour of area farms. Enjoy demonstrations, purchase local farm products, and meet the animals in your neighborhood. Don’t forget: bring your camera and enter your best shot in the photography and video/film contest. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29 | Apple Harvest Festival The Tapping Reeve Meadow — the new, historically inspired gardens at the Tapping Reeve House in Litchfield, Conn. — will be the backdrop for Litchfield Historical Society's very first Apple Harvest Festival. The lineup includes live music by MJK Music, wool-spinning and cider-pressing demonstrations, crafts and lawn games. Be there at 2 p.m. for: judging of the apple pie contest. 1-5 p.m.
Satuday, Sept. 29 — Sunday, Sept. 30 | Hancock Shaker Village Country Fair This year’s fair promises to be bigger and better than ever. It'll offer workshops, demonstrations, tours, a Harvest of Quilts exhibit and raffle, and local farm and artisan vendors. Don’t miss: the hot sauce contest and farm games. Pittsfield, Mass. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. each day.
Friday, Oct. 5 — Sunday, Oct. 7 | Salisbury Fall Festival Columbus Day weekend is one of the best times to visit Salisbury and Lakeville, Conn. You’ll be able to take advantage of special sales, gallery exhibits and homemade baked good (including Greek pastries). The fest’s jam-packed event schedule includes a 5K race along the rail trail, live music, a scarecrow contest, kids’ activities and a beer fest for adults. Pencil in: Sunday’s pancake breakfast and pet parade. See website for full lineup.
Saturday, Oct. 6, — Sunday, Oct. 7 | Berkshire Botanical Garden Harvest Festival This annual fest in Stockbridge, Mass. has something to keep everyone entertained. More than 100 regional artisan food and craft vendors will be on site; kids will enjoy the hay maze, pony rides, puppet shows and a haunted house; and adults can drop in on a workshop on garlic-growing, cheese-making or beekeeping. Don’t miss: the fest’s popular tag sale, and plant and bulb sale. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. each day.
Sunday, Oct. 13 | Country Seats Tour: Land of the Livingstons Hudson River Heritage presents its 29th annual tour, this year celebrating the Dutchess and Columbia County houses and buildings of the prominent Livingston family, most of them rarely open for public viewing. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. For a sneak peek at some of the homes and info on related lectures, read our story on Pieter Estersohn's new book, Life Along The Hudson: The Historic Country Estates of the Livingston Family.
Sunday, Oct. 13 | Tour of Historic Barns and Working Farms Winnakee Land Trust’s 2018 fundraiser allows guests to travel by car, motorcycle or bicycle on a self-guided tour that provides a unique perspective on several area barns and farms. Don’t forget about: the after-party, held at Grasmere Estate Historic Barns in Rhinebeck, N.Y. which will offer food, beverages, a raffle and live music by Payne’s Grey Sky. 11 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
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