Category: Family Fun

Family fun for the weekend

Fall fun

This week’s cover story (starting on page 10) looks at the pumpkin fun on offer this weekend — from pumpkin festivals to pumpkin picking. And of course apple picking is still a tasty long-weekend option; find our listing of some area orchards in the Sept. 16 issue of the Hippo (find the e-edition at hippopress.com; the apple story starts on page 13). Also in that issue is rundown of some area corn mazes (see page 12).

Some farms are adding something extra to their offerings this weekend, a three- or even four-day weekend for some area schools. Beans and Greens Farm (245 Intervale Road, Gilford; beansandgreensfarm.com, 293-2853) is holding a Harvest Festival Weekend, featuring their large corn maze, munchkin corn maze (for ages 5 and under), pumpkin maze, barnyard animals, live entertainment, pumpkin carving contest, family games and more, according to the website. Saturday, Oct. 9, the farm will hold an all-you-can-eat farm-to-table brunch; cost is $29.95 for adults, $19.95 for kids ages 5 to 11 and free for children 4 and under. See the website for tickets and times.

Applecrest Farm (133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls; 926-3721, applecrest.com) is holding an Indigenous People’s Day Weekend Festival & Great Pumpkin Carve with live music daily (Monadnock Bluegrass Band on Oct. 9, Unsung Heroes on Oct. 10 and Bolt Hill Band on Oct. 11) and the Great Pumpkin Carve on Sunday, Oct. 10.

Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road, Lee; 659-3572, nhcornmaze.com) will hold its second of three Flashlight Night Mazes at its corn maze on Saturday, Oct. 9, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tickets cost $12 per person for everyone age 5 and up (4 and under gets in free).

One of the pumpkin festivals on this weekend’s schedule is in Somersworth (see page 13 for details). Stick around afterward for Celebrate Somersworth, which will run from 5 to 8 p.m. at Somersworth High School, which will feature music, food, rides, demonstrations and displays from the police and fire departments and fireworks, according to a press release.

Museum happenings

The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St., Manchester; currier.org, 669-6144) will be open this Monday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as the usual schedule of Thursday through Sunday (also from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Art After Work on Thursdays running from 5 to 8 p.m.). Admission to the museum costs $15 for adults, $13 for 65+, $10 for students and $5 for youth (ages 13 to 17); kids ages 12 and under get in for free. Everybody can get in free Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m., and this Saturday, Oct. 9, New Hampshire residents can get in for free. There will also be a free craft — a WPA mural-inspired collage about New Hampshire nature — in the Creative Studio and family tours of the exhibit “WPA in New Hampshire: Philip Guston & Musa McKim.”

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive, Concord; starhop.com, 271-7827) will also be open on Monday, Oct. 11. Hours Friday through this Monday are 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 4 p.m. Reserve tickets online; admission costs $11.50 for adults, $10.50 for students and seniors, $8.50 for children (ages 3 to 12) and admission is free for ages 2 and under.

Family fun for the weekend

Day on the farm

• Charmingfare Farm (774 High St. in Candia; visitthefarm.com) kicks off its two-weekend Pumpkin Festival this weekend. The event runs Saturday, Oct. 2, and Sunday, Oct. 3, and then the following weekend (Columbus Day weekend, when some area schools have a three- or four-day weekend) from Saturday, Oct 9, through Monday, Oct. 11. Tickets cost $22 per person (for everyone 24 months old and older). The event includes tractor- and horse-drawn wagon rides, pumpkin picking, pumpkin art, costumed characters, pony rides and live music. Purchase tickets online for the specific day and time.

Throughout October and November you can sign up for horse trail rides. The cost is $69 per person. Reserve an hour of time on Saturdays or Sundays with slots available at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. The ride itself is 45 minutes long with 15 minutes of basic instruction, safety guidelines and getting up on the horse, according to the website. The horse trail rides are open to children 10 years and older (an adult must accompany kids under 18), riders can not exceed 270 pounds and the horses are kept at a walk (no trotting or cantering) and are good for beginner riders, the website said.

• Applecrest Farm Orchards (133 Exeter Road in Hampton Falls; 926-3721, applecrest.com) holds its Harvest Festival on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature apple and pumpkin picking, live music, a corn maze, tractor rides, an opportunity to visit the barnyard animals, food for purchase and more. This Saturday will be the Great Pumpkin Carve, when a master carver works on an 800-pound jack-o’-lantern, according to the website. The live music scheduled for this weekend includes Unsung Heroes on Saturday and Back Woods Road Band on Sunday.

• Get a photo with one of the draft horses at Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road in Lee; 659-3572, nhcornmaze.com) on Saturday, Oct. 2, from 1 to 3 p.m. The farm’s corn maze is open Monday, Thursday and Friday from noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission costs $9 (for everyone 13 years old and older) and $7 for children ages 5 to 12.

• Lavoies Farm (172 Nartoff Road in Hollis; 882-0072, lavoiesfarm.com) is holding its harvest weekends, with hayrides and corn boils (from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) along with pick your own apples and pumpkins and a corn maze. The farm is open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• Head to Scamman Farm (69 Portsmouth Ave. in Stratham; 6868-1258, scammanfarm.com) on Fridays in October for a night in the corn maze. The night maze runs from 6 to 9 p.m. (with the last admittance at 8:30 p.m.), according to the website, which recommends bringing a flashlight. Head back on Saturday, Oct. 2, for Doggie Day, when dogs are allowed at the farm and in the corn maze. The maze is generally open Monday and Wednesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; admission costs $9 ($7 for kids ages 5 to 12 and for seniors; kids under 5 get in free with a paid adult).

• The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill (174 Joppa Hill Road in Bedford; efjh.org, 472-4724) will hold a Family Trail Run on Sunday, Oct. 3, starting at 10 a.m. Registration costs $20 per person and runs through Oct. 1. The run is described as a “family friendly 2-mile trail loop that begins and ends at the Educational Farm at Joppa Hill,” according to the website. The race itself starts at 11a.m.; after the race there will be a fall fair with activities, lunch, live music and more, the website said.

Family fun for the weekend

Another fair weekend

• The Granite State Fair, which kicked off last weekend, continues Thursday, Sept. 23, through Sunday, Sept. 26, at 72 Lafayette St. in Rochester. The fair and midway open at 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; the fair opens at 10 a.m. and the midway opens at noon on Saturday and Sunday, according to granitestatefair.com, where you can buy tickets and find directions. Admission costs $10; kids 8 and under get in free. Shows, ride passes, parking and more require separate tickets, which are also available online (where you can find height requirements for the rides, in case you’re trying to figure out which kids are tall enough for which rides). One event to consider: Circus Hollywood, with shows at 5 and 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23, and Friday, Sept. 25; at 2, 5 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, and at 2 and 5 p.m. on Sunday. General admission is included, or get a ringside premium box for $15 (each box allows up to four guests), according to the website.

Another festival weekend

• Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road in Hollis; 465-7787, beaverbrook.org) will hold its 40th annual Fall Festival and Nature Art Show this weekend — Saturday, Sept. 25, and Sunday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The celebration has events for all ages; for the kids, there’s a children’s art exhibit, a petting farm and children’s nature crafts, according to the website.

• We’re still in the thick of Old Home Day season and this weekend the Sandown Old Home Day Fall Festival will come to Sandlot Sports (56 North Road in Sandown) with events Friday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Sept. 26. Saturday, Sept. 25, is the big day with games and a bouncy house and mini steam train rides from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; a coloring contest station from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; a bungee jump from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; face painting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; cow plop bingo at noon and a pie eating contest at 2 p.m. There will also be a bike parade at 9 a.m. and live music from about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., when fireworks are scheduled, according to the event’s Facebook page. On Sunday, check out fire and police station tours, the schedule said.

• DeMeritt Hill Farm (20 Orchard Way in Lee; 862-2111, demeritthillfarm.com) will hold its Harvest Weekend this Saturday, Sept. 25, and Sunday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days. The schedule includes pumpkin painting, guessing games, food sampling and more, according to the website. The farm also offers hay rides on the weekends ($2 per person) and is in the thick of its pick your own apple season. (For more places doing pick your own apples, check out our “Farm Fun” cover story in last week’s (Sept. 16) issue of the Hippo, which features stories on upcoming agricultural fairs, apple picking and corn mazes. See hippopress.com and scroll down for the e-edition of the paper. The stories start on page 10.)

• J&F Farms (124 Chester Road in Derry; 437-0535) is offering a Fall Hayride on Saturday, Sept. 25, with ticketed times at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The cost is $10 per person and includes a hayride to the pick your own pumpkin patch, cider doughnuts, a petting zoo and more, according to the farm’s Facebook page. Find tickets via a link to an eventbrite page on the Facebook page.