Colorful Fall Festivals That Celebrate the Harvest

Pumpkins, cranberries and apples — oh my! Road trip-worthy fests celebrate autumn’s beautiful bounty

Festivals celebrating American agriculture make great fall weekend getaways full of fresh air, seasonal food and fun activities for all ages.

Courtesy Sever's Fall Festival

Berit Thorkelson,

AARP

Published September 17, 2025

What do a three-story pumpkin tower, a sunflower field photo op and a mashed potato-eating contest have in common? These are all ways to celebrate American agriculture at crop-focused festivals around the country this fall.

U.S. agritourism continues to rise in popularity year over year, according to statistics from Grand View Research, a market research and consulting company. And fall’s temperate weather, beautiful colors and bountiful harvests are natural draws for road-trippers looking for weekend getaways, ranking in the top three domestic travel motivations for travelers 50 and over in AARP’s most recent travel trends survey.

The fests provide community connection on top of fresh air, good food and seasonal activities with multigenerational appeal. Let these standouts around the country serve as inspiration.

a woman and child standing in a corn maze

Long before corn mazes were a harvest-fest staple, Minnesota farmer Sever Peterson hand-carved one into his field and invited the public. Today, a 10-acre corn maze is one of many activities at the annual Sever’s Fall Festival.

Courtesy Sever's Fall Festival

Sever’s Fall Festival & Corn Maze

Shakopee, Minnesota

Back in the 1990s, grain farmer Sever Peterson’s idea to create a destination out of a Tyrannosaurus rex-shaped maze hand-cut into a 5-acre cornfield was greeted with skepticism. “[Fellow farmers] were like, ‘No one is ever going to pay you to walk through a cornfield,’” his daughter-in-law Nicola Peterson says. About 5,000 people did just that. Now, the annual maze is closer to double in size, and festival attendance can reach 100,000, depending on the weather. That’s thanks in part to the built-out fest: With so many activities, including a corn pit, pumpkin blasters and a petting zoo, some people don’t even make it into the maze. It’s still a family affair that supplements the Petersons’ working farm — you may even see Sever directing you where to park. When: Saturdays and Sundays, through Oct. 26 (also Oct. 16 & 17 for the Minnesota school holiday known as MEA). Admission: $19 online, $23 at the door, adults 65 and older and veterans get a $3 discount; free for children 3 and under; pricing increases by $3 a ticket in October.

a person in an idaho potato costume standing in front of a food truck

As of 2023, Idaho has an official Potato Festival, where festgoers can enjoy spuds prepared in various ways, including soup, as tots, and baked and custom-topped. Spud Buddy, shown here, is the festival’s mascot.

Courtesy Potato Days

Potato Days

Meridian, Idaho

Idaho native Thomas Watson grew up wondering why a state famous for potatoes didn’t have an official festival celebrating the humble spud. In 2023, with help from the Idaho Potato Commission and other state agricultural leaders, he changed that. “We did the first one, expecting a few hundred people. Let’s just see what happens. And 10,000 people show up,” he says. The second year, attendance tripled. Festgoers come for potato events including a French fry-cutting competition, potato sack race and mashed potato-eating contest, as well as farm-fresh Idaho potatoes served in all manner of ways, such as tots, waffles and baked, which can be topped with brisket chili or other add-ons. The ice cream potatoes — vanilla ice cream molded into a potato shape and coated in cocoa powder to resemble skin — are mercifully potato-free. If you can’t catch it this year, mark your calendar for next. When: Sept. 19-21. Admission: Free.

a woman and girls making cranberries jubilee at an event

Warrens Cranberry Festival royalty stands before the giant frying pan used to make cranberries jubilee, one of many cranberry-filled treats available at the celebration. Wisconsin is the “Cranberry Capital of America.”

Courtesy June Potter/Warrens Cranberry Festival

Warrens Cranberry Festival

Warrens, Wisconsin

This year, Wisconsin is projected to produce two-thirds of the nation’s cranberry supply, continuing its 31-year streak as America’s cranberry capital. The city of Warrens has held a festival celebrating the ruby-red crop since 1973, even before the state had earned the title. There are more than a thousand arts, crafts and flea market booths, and triple-digit food booths, too, most with a cranberry component. Just a taste: cranberry cream puffs, cranberry coffee, chocolate-covered cranberries and deep-fried cranberries on a stick. Take a cranberry marsh tour, or don waders to navigate a cranberry-filled wading pool for a great photo op. When: Sept. 26-28. Admission: Free.

a woman and child look at a field of sunflowers

A 4-acre sunflower field at Gorman Heritage Farm makes a fine photo op and also yields a pretty Sunflower Festival take-home, at $1 a stem.

Courtesy Gorman Heritage Farm

Sunflower Festival at Gorman Heritage Farm

Evendale, Ohio

In the 1990s, Jim Gorman and his sister Dorothy planted a sunflower field on their family farm as a way to connect to the community. In the early days, their celebration was little more than the field and a table selling the crop by the stem. In 1996, the Gormans donated their farm to the Cincinnati Nature Center, which transitioned it into a heritage farm and outdoor education center. And the Sunflower Festival lives on. “It’s a two-day festival, and we invite people to come on the farm and experience the field and everything else the farm has to offer now,” says Amanda Hanger, the operations manager. There are hayrides, farm animal encounters and throwback farm activities such as corn grinding for kids, she says. At the center of it all is a 4-acre field of sunflowers to explore, enjoy and bring home, for $1 per stem. When: Oct. 4-5. Admission: $15 for adults; $10 for adults 60-plus and kids 2-17; free for 1 and under, with early bird discounts.

Laconia Pumpkin Festival

Laconia, New Hampshire

The city of Laconia is putting on New Hampshire’s long-standing pumpkin festival for the first time this year, continuing the tradition of celebrating a farm-fresh symbol of fall in a state known for its autumnal beauty. Don’t miss the 34-foot tower of pumpkins, says Amy Lovick, festival chairperson. “It holds about 900 pumpkins that will be lit [at sundown] … all we have to do is flip a switch,” she says. There are also food and craft vendors, separate costume parades for kids and dogs, and train rides ($20) from the historic station out into the scenic color-drenched New Hampshire countryside. And new this year: Fireworks cap the day. When: Oct. 25. Admission: Free.

a group of women clinking wine glasses and smiling at an event

Farmers and fancy festgoers mingle at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair gala, celebrating the county’s grape crop and winning wines.

Will Bucquoy Photography/Sonoma County Harvest Fair

Sonoma County Harvest Fair

Santa Rosa, California

In 1975, two local agriculture leaders — a high school agriculture teacher and a grape grower — formed this celebration of Sonoma County’s harvest. Those early fests feted a variety of crops over multiple days. Now in its 50th year, it’s a one-night gala that’s all about the grape. Wine lovers, growers and makers mingle, sampling local food and some of the harvest of more than 100 wineries while waiting to toast this year’s best-in-class winners. “You’ll have party buses of people in their 20s who come to taste wine and have fun … and then you have the farmers who have been doing this since year one, who are talking about the grapes,” says Amy Tesconi, a harvest fest spokesperson. When: Oct. 11. Admission: $100 per ticket (includes all food and drink).

Graves Mountain Apple Harvest Festival

Syria, Virginia

For more than 50 years running, apple harvest at this 1,800-acre working century farm tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains means the orchards are open for a party. Taste apples in pies, sauce, donuts and cider, both hard and nonalcoholic, as live bluegrass music plays all day long. Part of the experience is just soaking in the bucolic setting — wander around the farm, meet the animals or get an up close view of the orchard by horseback or hayride, for an additional fee. When: Oct. 4-5, Oct. 11-12 and Oct. 18 -19. Admission: $6.50 in advance for ages 16 and up; free for 15 and under.

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Berit Thorkelson is a travel writer and editor for aarp.org. She has also written for publications such as National Geographic Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens and The Minnesota Star Tribune's travel section.