Adventures for Anyone: The Fairs Are Here! Fall in New England

It's fall in New England and that means one thing. It's time to party! This is when we have all our fairs. We also have some great festivals, wingdings, and shows as well. I've said it many times. This is our time to not go quietly into the good night of winter. We will Oktoberfest and corn maze ourselves till the cows come home before the snowy days and long nights of winter set in. So, This year we have some really great stuff. I started off my season with the Goshen Fair. This is my local one and it comes every Labor Day Weekend. It has all that you would expect; livestock, exhibits, rides, food, shopping, music, tractor pulls and so on. It's a great activity for Labor Day. We've also had our Bethlehem Fair already, which is a favorite of ours here in the northwest corner. But, if you didn't get a chance to go, like me this year; they still have their annual Garlic Festival coming up. It's a lot of fun and one of my favorite festivals in the area.

So, what do we have in store this year? Durham Fair is welcoming Foreigner for the price of admission. That's top shelf entertainment for a really good price. Over at Guilford's fair they are welcoming the Flying Walendas who are bringing a human cannonball. The Big E is celebrating it's 100th anniversary this year, so expect some special stuff up there as well. Ellsworth Farm in Sharon is having all kinds of harvest activities and they have some of the best muffins around. Simsbury is having their annual fly in and car show now in it's 31st year. And the list goes on.

One of the local activities that I couldn't pass up was the Car-B-Que in Washington last weekend. It's now in it's 10th year and here, all the money raised goes to charity. Great cars, good food, and a good cause.

Both Lake Compounce and Six Flags will be pulling out all the stops this month starting their haunted graveyard and frightfest seasons. Amusement parks in New England have turned into three season parks, celebrating both Halloween and Christmas before truly shutting down for the season. They are a lot of fun for the whole family. Just in case you were wondering, at least some of the rides are open during these off season events.

Down in Norwich you can get your geek on for the next month or so. The Connecticut Renaissance Faire runs during the fall here and if you go on the right day, you can even dress like Doctor Who. There's plenty out jousting, dress, ale, and shows all throughout the festival for the whole family to enjoy.

The mountain parks are still open through Columbus Day around here and they are always a lot of fun. The Old Aerodrome at Rhinebeck is also open through Columbus Day as are most of the adventure parks in New England. We really try to work in all our outdoor fun before winter hits and it's all left to the skiers and snow machine people.

Oktoberfest is another huge New England tradition. We have them all over. They start in September, which seems silly, but it gets cold early in some areas. Some of our best are right in our towns with the local clubs, but many many people truck themselves up to Hunter Mountain in the Catskills for the Oktoberfest that lasts for four weekends during September and October. The chairlifts are going for great views of the number one fall attraction in New England--the leaves. So, wherever you go for Oktoberfest, whether it be Hunter Mountain or Main Street USA in New Britain or just to the beer garden in New Britain; enjoy a beer and some polka music in honor of the season.