Pittsburgh Offers Festivals and Fun for Families This Fall

With fall well underway, there are several fun activities for children and their caregivers in the Pittsburgh region over the next few months.

Fall Festivals

For youngsters who don’t frighten easily, Kennywood’s new Phantom Fall Fest runs on select dates through Oct. 27. The event includes food, seven haunted houses, four scare zones, and other thematic activities.

Mars Applefest, which takes place on Oct. 4, offers a variety of food, fun, shopping, games, crafts, entertainment, and more than 150 vendors.

The Confluence PumpkinFest in Laurel Highlands runs from Oct. 4 to 6. The festival features a PumpkinFest Queen Pageant, a 5K run/walk, an antique and classic auto show, a parade, and a large pumpkin contest.

Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens’ Fall Flower Show, which runs from Oct. 5 to 27, features a theme this year of Rhythm and Blooms. Every room at Phipps is inspired by a different musical genre and is accompanied by chrysanthemums in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Seven Springs Mountain Resort’s Autumnfest, which runs from Oct. 5 to 20, is a great locale for fall foliage. Visitors can ride the chairlift for an aerial view as well as shop from local artisans and crafters and listen to live music.

Zelienople’s Annual Country Fall Festival, which runs from Oct. 12 to 13, features two days of musical entertainment, three towers of paranormal ghost walks, pumpkin and costume contests, chainsaw carving, a petting zoo, free horse-drawn wagon rides, and historic encampments and demonstrations.?

CitiParks’ Track and Treat for Kids will encourage attendees to bring a bike or borrow one for this event at the Bud Harris Cycling Track. The event will include refreshments, food trucks, and more.

The Bit Bridge Halloween Showcase enables local developers to demonstrate their games in Pittsburgh. Costumes are encouraged for the event, which runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 20.

The Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkin Festival, which takes place on Oct. 19 and 20, will include a “Costume Caper” 5K run/walk, a pumpkin regatta, a pumpkin pie eating contest, and giant pumpkin sculptures. This year’s event will take place in the Strip District, at 3 Crossings Campus along 28th and 29th streets.

Buzzword will explore its latest word, GLIDE, during a bug-themed family-friendly event. Children and their caregivers will take part in interactive activities from the Carnegie Science Center.

More events can be found on Allegheny County’s website.

Learn more about local Pittsburgh farms and their falltime activities.

About Playful Pittsburgh

Playful Pittsburgh is an initiative dedicated to advancing the importance of play in the lives of children, families, and communities in the Pittsburgh region by:

• Raising awareness that play is a critical element in the lives of people of all ages
• Educating decision-makers (from parents to legislators) in our region so that their choices support access to play for people of all ages
• Modeling (and inspiring) through various activities the actions we hope our broader community will take in their daily lives