Hudson Valley 2016 Guide to Fall Fairs and Festivals

Fall is a great time of year to discover the region. Many annual events occur along the Hudson and the Sound Shore leading up to Halloween and beyond. Here are some highlights:

• Sept. 16 through 18 - Fall Crafts at Lyndhurst: This craft fair showcases more than 275 modern American makers, artists, designers and craftspeople from across the country and is a celebration of all things handmade. Fall Crafts at Lyndhurst offers a full day of art and a shopping experience along the coast of the inspiringly beautiful Hudson River. The event features handmade jewelry, contemporary craft pottery, wood furniture, handwoven fashions, bronze sculpture, blown glass objects, and more, along with a gourmet food and specialties section. For more information, click here. Lyndhurst is at 635 South Broadway in Tarrytown.
• Sept. 18 – Brewster Founders Day. Brewster will hold its annual street festival on Main Street. The event includes food, vendors, games, and fun for everyone. The hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Sept. 18 – Art in the Park and Lobsterfest in Piermont at 1 p.m. Artists will show their work, sell their work, and create works in Flywheel Park. Included in the event will be teaching workshops and hands-on workshops for all ages. Lobsterfest is at the Goswick Pavilion. For more information, click here.
• Sept/. 18 – New Rochelle Street Fair. Hundreds of vendors and food from local and regional restaurants will be at the New Rochelle Street Fair from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Art, crafts, and merchandise will be on both sides of Main Street between Centre Avenue and North Avenue. This year there will be a Beer and Wine Garden.
• Sept. 24 – Tappantown Historical Society’s Annual Colonial Day. Step back in time and visit Colonial America. Tour the Carriage House Museum and the DeWint House with costumed guides. See Colonial Army reenactors, encampment soldiers, live farm animals and preparations for winter in the DeWint House kitchen. Watch spinners, lacemakers, quilters, embroiderers, woodcarvers, a sheepshearer, blacksmith and colonial singers and dancers. The DeWint House is at Oak Tree Road and Livingston Street.
• September 24 – Vassar Street Brewfest. The Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center presents the Vassar Street BrewFest celebrating the heritage of Matthew Vassar, his brewery and its historic venue. Admission includes commemorative pilsner glass, local artisan craft brew and cider tastings, food sampling, and live music. Tickets are $20.
• Sept. 24 – Kites Over the Hudson. Come fly a kite from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh. The first 150 children under the age of 15 will receive a free kite and prizes will be awarded in various kite-related categories. Museum admission and admission to the headquarters used by General and Mrs. Washington during the last days of the Revolutionary War is free. The location is at 84 Liberty Street in Newburgh.
• Sept. 25 – Jay Day Fall Family Festival. Come enjoy the day, take part in pony rides, face- painting, pumpkin activities, apple coring, a farmers’ market, and more, all set to the tune of fun, festival music played on the veranda of John Jay’s house. Watch a falconer in the meadow, and pick up a picnic lunch from one of the tasty food trucks! The event starts at 11 a.m. and is at the Jay Heritage Center at 210 Boston Post Road in Rye.
• Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Sept. 30 to Nov. 13 – The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. See more than 7,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o’ lanterns in this elaborate walk-through experience at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson. Meander through an historic, 18th-century riverside landscape and discover a breathtaking display – all made of jack o’ lanterns. Order tickets early because last year sold out. Tickets are $25 for adults and $16 for children. For more information, click here.
• Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Oct. 7 through Monday, Oct. 31 – Horseman’s Hollow. Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow transforms into a terrifying landscape ruled by the undead, the evil, and the insane. Visitors begin walking a haunted trail, stumbling upon scary scenes of a town driven mad by the Headless Horseman. Elaborate costumes and the work of award-wining makeup artists make it all too real. Not suitable for small children or the faint of heart. Enter at your own risk. Tickets are $20 for Friday or Sunday and $25 for Saturday. For more information, click here.
• Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 – Fall Carnival. Sts. Peter and Paul and St. Ursula Church in Mount Vernon will hold its annual Fall Carnival in the church parking lot at 129 Birch Street. There will be rides, games, attractions, vendors, and food from local merchants and restaurants. For more information, call 914-668-9815.
• Oct. 1 and 2 – Hudson Valley Garlic Festival. There will be a celebration of all things garlic in Saugerties. The Garlic Festival includes live music, lectures, demonstrations, and crafts. Saturday hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, click here.
• Oct. 15 – Story Jam@Sunnyside. Come for a day of listening to master storytellers tell their tales at Washington Irving’s home, Sunnyside, in Tarrytown. On a crisp fall evening with the home of America’s founding father of literature as a backdrop, you'll lose yourself in a range of human experiences – adventures and embarrassments, loves and joys, achievements and defeats. Tickets are $25. For more information, click here.
• Oct. 15 and 16 – The New York Sheep and Wool Show. The Dutchess Country Fairgrounds will be the site for one of the biggest celebrations of sheep, wool, and yarn in the country. See sheep of all breeds, along with goats, sheepdogs, llamas and alpacas, demonstrations, and all types of crafts that are wooly or not so wooly. For more information, click here.
• November 12 – Harvest Bazaar and Christmas Fair. Come to a vendor fair at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Brewster. The event will feature folks selling crafts, baked goods, jewelry, cosmetics, and other fine items for gift-giving. The church is at 26 Prospect Street in Brewster. For more information, call 845-279-4325.