Fall Events
Events Worth The Trip
Big Flats
Sept 19-21, 2024
A free community celebration with carnival rides, music, fireworks, craft fair, 5K race, music and a parade for 70 years!
Bristol Mountain Fall Festival
Bristol Mountain, South Bristol
Second Sunday of October
Fall foliage, sky rides and lots of Scottish Highland competition make this a truly unique event for the whole family.
Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival
Cohocton
October 4-6, 2024
Cohocton’s annual Fall Foliage Festival is a family-friendly community event celebrating the magnificent surrounding hills and all of their colorful splendor. The event features arts and crafts, flea market, antiques and food vendors located on the Town and Village greens in Cohocton. While at the Wayland-Cohocton Elementary School parking lot on Park Ave, you’ll find a Tractor Pull, Antique Tractor Show, Fall Classic Antique & Vintage Snowmobile Show, and Fall Classic Car Show. There will also be a parade (Saturday at noon), live music in the gazebo, a petting zoo and free horse-drawn wagon rides Saturday and Sunday.
Elmira
Daily September thru October
Enjoy a professionally designed corn maze on this 100 year old family farm. You’ll also find fall fun for all ages, including a pumpkin patch, apples, cider, freshly made donuts, and a variety of harvest games.
Corning
October 24-26, 2024
The last weekend of each October, the small town of Corning celebrates the role a small glass company played in making the first light bulbs for Thomas Edison during The Days of Incandescence. The multi-day event includes a Cemetery Tour, Themed Libations Crawl, Guided Historic Walking Tours, and a celebration event in Riverfront Park featuring horse and wagon rides, costumed vendors, live blacksmithing, juggling, Victorian-era games for kids, community Jack-o-Lantern display, food and more. The 2024 event will also include pumpkin carving by Guinness World Record Holder and Winner Of Food Network’s Outrageous Pumpkins Eric Jones.
Village of Skaneateles
Each weekend following Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve
Dickens Christmas brings “A Christmas Carol” to life on November 25 in Skaneateles. Every weekend from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas, the town goes back to the year 1842. Visitors can interact with more than 50 characters including Queen Victoria, Father Christmas, Tiny Tim and Ebeneezer Scrooge, roam the streets, stores and restaurants, take a carriage ride through town, and listen to Christmas carols.
Duck & Red Octopus Short Stop Action Animation Festival
Ake Gallery, Cortland
September
Finalists from around the world will compete for awards including Best Stop Action Short and Best Animated Short. There will be workshops, guest speakers, film premieres, director Q&As and more, including a stand-up comedy concert by Bobcat Goldthwait. The two-day event will take place at the Ake Gallery, one of the world’s most spectacular semi-serious art venues, as well as various venues throughout Cortland County.
Montour Falls
October 5, 2024
A family friendly, daylong celebration of the harvest takes place every year in beautiful and historic Montour Falls, NY. For almost 20 years, the Falls Harvest Festival celebrates the bounty of the Finger Lakes during the height of autumn and Fall colors. The festival concludes the day long festivities in the evening with a community bonfire and spectacular fireworks display. The Village closed its main street so festival goers enjoy waterfalls cascading over the 156-foot Shequaga Falls. Located in the center of the Village’s historic district, the district includes mid and late 19th century structures known as the “Glorious T”.
Finger Lakes Hot Air Balloon & Music Festival
Watkins Glen
September 27-29, 2024
The first annual Finger Lakes Hot Air Balloon & Music Festival will be a unique and unforgettable experience for all attendees. Taking place at Castel Grisch Winey located at the southern end of the beautiful Seneca Lake directly in the heart of the Finger Lakes, the festival kicks off with a spectacular hot air balloon launch. The weekend festival will be full of family fun delicious food and amazing entertainment. Experiences include live concerts, unique artisans and craft vendors, and hot air balloon rides that will bring breathtaking views of the Finger Lakes during the height of the Fall season.
Geneseo
Second weekend of October
The Hunt Races have been hosted here for over 120 years, and some of the finest steeplechase trainers on the eastern seaboard bring their horses here to compete for over $30,000 in prize money. Trainers, owners, and jockeys agree that the Genesee Valley Hunt Races are one of the most anticipated meets of the entire season.
But the Hunt Races isn’t just about horses—it’s about dogs and canine events, too. There are Terrier and wiener dog races, a jumping contest, agility courses, sled dog demos, and of course the Parade of the Genesee Valley Hunt foxhounds. Leashed dogs are more than welcome to attend the event, and some people say that dog-watching is just as much fun as watching the horses!
There’s lots for the kids to do (including stick horse races and pony rides), food and drink vendors, wine and craft beer tasting, shopping, music and more. It’s like an old-fashioned country fair with a race track instead of a midway, and there’s something for everyone to enjoy!
The Great Cortland Pumpkinfest
Cortland
October 5-6, 2024
Experience the essence of fall in history downtown during the Great Cortland Pumpkinfest! Multiple entertainment stages showcase the talents of local performers, while the Kids’ Zone offers an array of games and activities for children of all ages. Explore the craft show featuring the works of local artists and vendors, enjoy classic hayrides and delectable festival food celebrating the quintessential flavors of fall. While the kids have fun at the midway, adults can unwind with a beverage from the Pumpkin Pub. Recognized among the top 10 fall festivals in America by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
Corning’s Gaffer District
September 20-21, 2024
Harvest is Corning’s annual celebration to welcome the Fall season! This popular fall event features live music, hayrides, various vendors, on-street dining, a Market Street scavenger hunt, and more. Come explore Historic Market Street which will be full on-street vending from our small businesses and farmers’ market vendors. Catch some amazing live tunes from top local bands during free performances.
Harvest Festival at Colloca Estate Winery
Fair Haven/Sterling
October
Grape stomping, pie-eating contests, live music, and plenty of treats!
Owego
November
Store specials, live entertainment, and Santa comes to town!
Iron Kettle Farm Pumpkin Display
707 Owego Rd, Candor
September thru October
Hay rides, corn maze, amazing pumpkin display, and a whole lot of fall family fun.
Onondaga Lake Park, Liverpool
Mid-November thru mid-January
Lights on the Lake is a two-mile-long drive-thru show featuring towering holiday displays, larger-than life Land of Oz, a twinkling fantasy forest, colorful section arches, memorable animated scenes and a fairy tale magic grand finale! Visitors drive through the show while listening to the wonderful sounds of the season on Sunny 102.1! Tickets must be purchased online in advance.
Little York Fiber Arts Festival
Little York Pavilion, Preble
October 12-13, 2024
Come enjoy knitting, spinning, felting, yarn, pelts, raw fleeces, blankets, shawls, clothing, roving, unique fiber products, crafts, Christmas gift ideas, sheep, llamas, angora rabbits and goats …and much more!
Livonia
September 14
Livonia’s Autumn in the Village Festival is one day an annual event featuring a parade, live music, food, crafts, and great family fun. The Festival is always the second Saturday in September.
Main Street, Palmyra
September 14 & 15, 2024
One hundred craft booths, 40 market vendors, and food for all tastes fill the streets of Palmyra. In addition, enjoy wagon rides, guided tours, historic museums, and antique shops. Stick around for the Grand Parade on Saturday!
The Purple Painted Lady Festival
880 Yellow Mills Rd, Palmyra
September 21 and 22, 2024
The Purple Painted Lady Festival features close to 400 artists/vendors every year. The only festival of this magnitude that is also a benefit for many local charities and organizations! How cool is it to be able to have a good time, shop, and know that you’re helping others all at the same time!
Macedon Center Lumberjack Festival
Macedon Center Fireman’s Field
September 7 and 8, 2024
Professional Lumberjacks from all over the United States and Canada come to compete in ax throwing, hot saw, two-man crosscut, springboard and so much more. Other attractions include umberjack Pancake Breakfast, craft and collectables sales, commercial exhibits and demos, petting zoo and pony rides for the kids. Enjoy a weekend of great food, crafts, exciting competitions and cheer on your favorite Lumberjack!
Memorial Art Gallery
September 7-8, 2024
The M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival has been MAG’s largest annual fundraiser and biggest celebration of the arts for more than 60 years. Over 300 artists from across the country offer their work for purchase at this juried, two-day festival that takes place on the beautiful grounds of the Memorial Art Gallery. Clothesline is also the place to experience all-day live entertainment, sample food from some of Rochester’s favorite food trucks and vendors, enjoy free family art activities, and visit the museum.
Naples
September
The Naples Grape Festival celebrates the grape harvest season, locally made grape foods, and arts and crafts that feature grapes and the harvest, and of course, Finger Lakes Wine.
Watkins Glen
November 22-24, 2024
An annual Seneca Lake Wine Trail event, enjoy a self-guided tour of participating wineries decorated to the hilt for the holiday season. Tickets are valid for the three-day festivities on the first of two weekends when all enjoy delicious wine and food pairings at 19 participating wineries. Each participant or couple receives wreath packets which contain a grapevine wreath, recipe book and one wine glass at their selected starting winery. The holiday season is celebrated with an ornament collected at each winery stop that stretches along the shores of stunning Seneca Lake, each with its own unique charm.
Various Locations, Downtown Rochester
September 10-21, 2024
Renowned among the world’s 200+ fringe festivals for presenting an annual spectacular, free, outdoor show, Rochester’s Fringe was also the first fringe festival in North America to feature a Spiegeltent. From comedy to theater, from music to dance, from visual art and film to spoken word, and from children’s entertainment to multi-disciplinary collaborations, the festival’s diversity also extends to venues that span the gamut from parked cars to grand theaters.
Schuyler County Farm Tour Weekend
Watkins Glen
September 28-29, 2024
An amazing opportunity to experience family fun down, several farms in the Watkins Glen area and throughout Schuyler County create special farm experiences for all to enjoy. Local farms prepare to welcome the public into behind-the-scenes tours of their agricultural operations. Apple picking, tastings, demonstrations, farm animal interactions, tours, and farm markets reflect authentic, informative, and entertaining family fun on a beautiful Finger Lakes Fall weekend. The farms offer the opportunity to have self-guided tours, enjoy cheese flights, greet alpacas, cow cuddling, and include a walking tour of a world-class maple research program located in the Finger Lakes.
Stoughton Farm Corn Maze and Activities
Soughton Farm, Newark Valley
Mid September thru October
Huge corn maze, and a bunch of other Fall family fun activities.
Elmira
Mid-October
Family-friendly fall celebration at Tanglewood Nature Center & Museum with pumpkins, hayrides, face painting, rocket building, scary stories and more. No admission and many free kids activities. Free hiking trails.
Tagsylvania Haunted Attractions
Big Flats
Friday and Saturday Nights in October
A legendary haunted experience offering four full-length haunted attractions, including an escape room, dark carnival games, psychic & tarot readers and other Halloween/fall attractions.
Wayne County Apple Tasting Tour
Various Businesses in Wayne County
October 11-14, 2024
Our annual Apple Tasting Tour is packed with unique stops for visiting and celebrating the apple! Taste and sample different apple varieties, foods and drinks along this self-guided tour. Our Apple World Jumble adds an extra bit of fun. Find a letter at each stop and complete the word jumble to be entered to win a prize. With so many places and options, U Pick your stops, U Pick the Way!
Hammondsport and Keuka Lake
September 21, 2024
Each fall the folks at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum transform Keuka Lake into a runway for seaplanes in homage to aviation pioneer and hometown hero, Glenn Curtiss, who did that very thing in the very same location over 100 years ago. An extremely popular event, the annual seaplane homecoming has grown into Wings & Wheels in Hammondsport featuring a seaplane show at Depot Park, seaplane competitions, a seaplane parade, as well as a Classic & Exotic Car Show on display on Shethar St. and around the Village Square.
Romulus
September 26-29, 2024
The Wine Country Circuit Dog Show is an AKC-licensed event and is one of the largest circuits in the country. The show is hosted by three kennel clubs, each holding their all-breed dog shows, obedience, agility and rally trials on consecutive days of the circuit.
Bath to Corning, Point to Point Race
October 6, 2024
For years, the Wineglass Marathon has been a bucket-list event named one of the Top 10 Destination Races in the world and voted Best Marathon in New York State by runners (RaceRave). The point-to-point course is flat and fast, and personal records tend to fall. That speed and the stunning scenery also make the Wineglass one of the most popular spots to qualify for the Boston Marathon. In 2023, the Wineglass Half-Marathon was voted 3rd Best Half Marathon in the country and has been consistently ranked as one of the best first-time half marathons.
