Category: Family Fun

Family fun for whenever

Spooky season fun

In the Oct. 16 issue of the Hippo, we presented a guide to Halloween happenings for all ages, from the extra-scary haunted houses for the 18+ crowd to kid-friendly not-so-scary events. Find the issue in the digital library at hippopress.com. Here are some of the family fun happenings this weekend:

• Downtown Trick or Treat in downtown Manchester will run Friday, Oct. 24, from 3 to 6 p.m. with businesses along Elm Street and in Stanton Plaza handing out candy to trick-or-treaters as well as other activities, according to the Manchester Economic Development Office’s Facebook page and manchesterproud.org.

• The 2025 Halloween Howl in downtown Concord will take place Friday, Oct. 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and feature trick-or-treating, a trunk-or-treat, a costume contest, games and more, according to intownconcord.org. Main Street will be closed to traffic from Centre Street and Loudon Road to Hills Avenue for the event, the website said.

• Kids can trick-or-treat the Concord Farmers Market on Capitol Street next to the Statehouse in downtown Concord during its final market of the season on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. See concordfarmersmarket.com.

• The Nashua Public Library, 2 Court St. in Nashua, nashualibrary.org, will hold a Costume Parade on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 11 a.m. to noon. Kids can parade through the library in costumes, collecting surprises at each department, according to the library website.

• Children’s Trick or Treat will take place at Charmingfare Farm, 774 High St. in Candia, visitthefarm.com, on Saturday, Oct. 25, and Sunday, Oct. 26, with entry times starting at 10 a.m. Take a horse-drawn wagon or tractor ride throughout the farm along a Halloween-themed trail to meet with characters, visit farm animals and receive candy, according to the website. Admission costs $29 per person, with add-ons for pumpkin art and pony rides. The Halloween Juggling Spectacular show featuring Jason Tardy will take place throughout the day; see the website for times.

• Main Street Monster Mash Howl-o-Ween will take place Saturday, Oct. 25, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Main Street in downtown Nashua. Kids can trick-or-treat at downtown businesses and take part in costume contests — as can pets, according to a post on the Great American Downtown Facebook page. There will be a Pearl Streets Howl-o-ween Puppy Parade at 11:30 a.m. and a performance by the ActorSingers at noon, the post said.

• The Town of Merrimack Halloween Party will take place Saturday, Oct. 25, from noon to 2 p.m. in Wasserman Park. The day will feature games, crafts, face painting, food vendors, a costume contest, community organizations and more, according to merrimackparksandrec.org.

• Pumpkinpalooza will take place Saturday, Oct. 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Kimball Jenkins, 266 N. Main St. in Concord, kimballjenkins.com. This family-friendly all-ages celebration invites you to bring your own pumpkin to decorate before taking part in a candy scavenger hunt and a costume parade and listening to “‘A Spooky Serenade,’ a live performance by Melissa Elsman, Contralto,” according to the website, where you can register to attend (advance registration required).

• The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, starhop.com, will present the Family Fright Fest celebration on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day will feature hands-on Halloween science, live demonstrations, a special Halloween-themed planetarium show, a trick-or-treat scavenger hunt and more, according to a press release. The event is described as all-ages and costume-friendly, the release said. Activities are included with general admission, the release said.

Family fun for whenever

Some spookiness

• Haunted Overload at DeMeritt Hill Farm, 20 Orchard Way in Lee, hauntedoverload.com, offers some less scary options for families looking for haunted houses for brave but still young Halloween fans. Day Haunt sessions are described as “a great opportunity to walk the haunted trails in the reassuring light of day. See the amazing props and sets without any scares…. This is an actor-free event,” the website said. Tickets for Day Haunt are $14 per person and the Day Haunt hours are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is also a Frite Nite Lite on the evenings of Thursdays, Oct. 9, Oct. 16, and Oct. 23, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. featuring “[a]ll the lights, sounds, and effects without the scares!” according to the website. Tickets cost $25. See the website for dates and details.

• Hellwood’s Cursed Forest atElwood Orchards, 54 Elwood Road in Londonderry, 434-6017, elwoodorchards.com, is separate from the orchard’s corn maze and an also offers a Frite Lite experience, which is described as “child-friendly/sensory-safe daytime experience,” on Saturday, Oct. 11, and Sunday, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets cost $8 per person; ages 5 and under get in for free, according to the website, where you can find details about tickets and scare levels.

Fall fun

• The Warner Fall Festival, which runs Friday, Oct. 10, through Sunday, Oct. 12, in downtown Warner will hold its children’s parade on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m. No prior registration is required; line up next to the post office at 12:45 p.m., according to the festival’s Facebook page and wfff.org, .

• Visitors to the Monarch & Chrysalis Corn Maze at Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road, Lee, nhcornmaze.com) on Monday, Oct. 13, can check out the raptors from Tailwinds: Raptor Education and Conservation from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The human Tailwinds team and their non-releaseable raptors will be on site, the website said. The corn maze is open Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Saturday, Nov. 1. Admission costs $10 for ages 13+ and $8 for ages 5 to 12, 65+, military and college students with ID.

Family fun for whenever

Pumpkin time

• Charmingfare Farm in Candia will hold its annual Pumpkin Festival Saturday, Oct. 4, and Sunday, Oct. 5, and Saturday, Oct. 11, through Monday, Oct. 13. Pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, take a tractor- or horse-drawn wagon ride, meet costumed characters, enjoy a children’s corn maze, watch a juggling and comedy show and listen to live music, according to visitthefarm.com, where you can purchase tickets to a specific time during the two weekends. Oct. 11 will feature a children’s entrepreneur market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $29 per person.

Author talk

• As of Sept. 29, tickets were still available to the Friday, Oct. 3, 10:30 a.m. event with Tui Sutherland at the Capitol Center of the Arts’ Chubb Theatre, 44 S. Main St. in Concord. Sutherland, author of the Wings of Fire series, is the children’s keynote speaker at the New Hampshire Book Festival. Tickets cost $8 and include a special edition of Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy, according to ccanh.com. Tickets were still available to Sutherland’s Saturday, Oct. 4, 6 p.m. Wings of Fire FanNite, which will feature a conversation with NHPR’s Taylor Quimby, a book signing, a themed gift bag and themed concessions, according to the website. Tickets to the Saturday event cost $25.

The book festival itself will also feature a KidLit Stage on South Main Street in Concord on Saturday, Oct. 4, starting at 9:30 a.m. with author panels and book signings. See nhbookfestival.org for the lineup and see page 18 for more details on the festival.

• Teen author Hemie Yao — she became a published author at age 12, according to her website, hemieyao.com — will be at Bookery Manchester, 844 Elm St., on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 1 to 3 p.m. with her adventure books, according to bookerymht.com.

Science!

• Doktor Kaboom will present “an action-packed morning of laughter, learning and a whole lot of kaboom!” on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at 10 a.m. at the Stockbridge Theatre in Derry, according to a press release. Tickets cost $15. See doktorkaboom.com for a video of Doktor Kaboom performances.