Get ready for October

by Elizabeth Morse Read

It’s time for Oktoberfests, seafood and harvest festivals, and all things Halloween! Get outside to enjoy the foliage, cider, pumpkins and the cooling weather – it’s the lull before the “holiday season” gets into full swing.

All things Halloween

Plan ahead for the fabulous “Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular” at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence (rwpzoo.org)!

Find a haunted house, hay ride, corn maze, scary event or spooky place near you at (mahauntedhouses.com)!

Head for the Narrows Center in Fall River on October 28 for the live multimedia Halloween event “Nosferatu Live” (narrowscenter.com, nosferatuLIVE.com )! 

Go on a lantern-led haunted history tour with “Ghosts of Newport” (ghostsofnewport.com). 

Woohoo! Explore the 8-acre Corn Maze at Escobar’s Highland Farm in Portsmouth (escobarshighlandfarm.com)!  

Don’t miss the Great Townie Pumpkin Festival on October 1 at Crescent Park in East Providence or the Trunk or Treat event on October 15 (crescentparkcarousel.org/events)!  

Visit the most famous haunted house on the South Coast – take a tour of the Lizzie Borden B&B Museum in Fall River (or spend the night, if you dare!). Or go on a bundled tour of Salem, Boston and the Lizzie Borden House (lizzie-borden.com). To view photographs and historical artifacts of the infamous double murder, visit the Fall River Historical Society’s Lizzie Borden exhibit (lizzieborden.org)! 

Go on a Haunted Boat Tour through the waterways of Providence (providenceriverboat.com) or a lantern-led guided ghost tour of Providence’s historic East Side (providenceghosttour.com)! 

Have some slightly-spooky fun at New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park’s “Boo at the Zoo” in October (bpzoo .org)! 

Let the whole family enjoy the Annual Halloween on Main Street in Plymouth on October 31 (seeplymouth.com). 

Take a tour of the Fortress of Nightmares at Fort Adams State Park in Newport this month (fortressofnightmares.org). 

Don’t miss the annual Halloween Parade at Benoit Square in Fairhaven on October 29 (fairhaventours.com)!

Scare yourself silly at Fall River’s Factory of Terror (mahauntedhouse.com, factoryofterror.com)! 

Buy your tickets early for one of the best haunted houses in New England! Head for Fear Town in Seekonk (fear-town.com). 

Take the littlest kids for a not-so-scary Halloween haunted hay ride, corn maze, and make-your-own Scary Sundaes at Simcock Farm in Swansea (simcockfarm.com)! (simcockfarm.com) 

Family fun!

Enjoy free family fun and entertainment on AHA! Nights in New Bedford! The October 12 theme is “Art in Tune” (ahanewbedford.org).

Check out the free “Movie in the Park” on October 6 at Crescent Park in East Providence (crescentparkcarousel.org/events)!     

Spend some family time at the Fairhaven Kids Festival on October 14 – loads of activities, free food, arts and crafts (fairhaventours.com)! 

When it’s raining outside, take the little ones to the Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River (cmgfr.org)!

Head for the Museum of Natural History & Planetarium in Providence’s Roger Williams Park to watch the planetarium shows (providence.gov/museum)!  

Food, drink and shopping

Aw shucks! Plan ahead for the 9th Annual Ocean State Oyster Festival at River Walk Park in Providence on October 7 (oysterfestri.com).

Mark your calendar for October 7’s Annual Oktoberfest in New Bedford at State Pier – craft brews, food vendors, music (southcoastbusinessalliance.org)! 

Head for Newport on October 6-9 for the Columbus Day Sidewalk Sale, and on October 14-15 for the 32nd Annual Bowen’s Wharf Seafood Festival and (bowenswharf.com)! 

Taste your way through the historic district with New Bedford Food Tours on a 3-hour guided walking tour to sample local foods at five signature restaurants, a 2-hour “Art and Brunch” tour of the city, or a 3-hour “A Taste of Portugal” tour in Fall River (nbfoodtours.com)! 

Go on a Vineyard Voyage with the Providence Riverboat Company (providenceriverboat.com) 

Sign up for the workshops in White Wine Tasting October 5, Red Wine Tasting October 12, and Bumble Bees & Pollinators October 14 at Blithewold Mansion and Gardens in Bristol (blithewold.org)!

Take the family to the monthly Open Farm Days at Round the Bend Farm in Dartmouth through December! Grass-fed meats, botanicals, local veggies, honey, farm tours, and more (roundthebendfarm.org).

Shop for everything fresh, local and handmade on Saturdays through October at the Southcoast Open Air Market in Somerset (southcoastopenairmarket.com).  

Eat Fresh, Eat Local! Fill your baskets with local produce, dairy products and artisanal foods! To find a farm, vineyard or farmers market near you, visit semaponline.org, farmfreshri.org, or coastalfoodshed.org. To find food and wine events, go to farmcoast.com, coastalwinetrail.com, or ediblesouthshore.com.

Festivals and fairs

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! King Richard’s Faire in Carver is open on weekends through October 23 (kingrichardsfaire.net).   

Celebrate the season at the South Coast Harvest Festival September 29 to October 1 at the Westport Fairgrounds! Garden talks/demos, tractor parade, autumn foods, live music, pumpkin carving, kids’ “corn”-er, scarecrows (southcoastharvestfestival.com)!

Spend the day at Fairhaven’s legendary Manjiro Festival on October 7 – explores the town’s ties with its sister-city in Japan, enjoy Japanese food, music, Taiko drumming, martial arts, calligraphy, tea ceremony, free bus tour and more (fairhaventours.com, WhitfieldManjiro.org)! 

Check out the free Folks on the Farm festival this month at Frerich’s Farm in Warren (frerichsfarm.com). 

Celebrate harvest time at the Norman Bird Sanctuary’s 49th Annual Harvest Fair September 30 to October 1 in Middletown! Old-fashioned family fun, food trucks, games, competitions, live music (normanbirdsanctuary.org)!

All the world’s a stage

Head for the Providence Performing Arts Center to enjoy Zach Williams October 5, Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse October 14, “Mrs. Doubtfire” October 17-22, Mark Normand October 21, Encanto: The Sing-Along Film Concert October 27, Tower of Power and the RI Philharmonic Orchestra October 28, “The Book of Mormon” October 31 (ppacri.org)! 

Don’t miss “Puffs” at Fall River’s Little Theatre on October 12-22 (littletheatre.net)! 

Mark your calendar for the Marion Art Center’s production of “The Shining Lives” October 13-14, 20-22, 27-28 (marionartcenter.org)! 

Head for the Priscilla Beach Theatre in Plymouth, the oldest barn theatre still in operation in America! “Camelot” will be performed October 6-10 (pbtheatre.org). 

Enjoy a performance of “The Good John Proctor” through November 12 and “Becky Nurse of Salem” through November 10 at Trinity Rep in Providence (trinityrep.org).

Don’t miss “22/16: The Remix of a Global Experiment” during September and October performed by The Wilbury Group in Providence (thewilburygroup.org).

South Coast sounds

The 100-year old Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford will undergo an historic restoration and renovation., and will be closed for 12-18 months until completion. But during that time, the great performances the Z is known for will still be scheduled at other venues and stages throughout the South Coast, including performances by the Z’s resident companies, the New Bedford Festival Theatre and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Plan ahead for Jake Shimabukuro at UMass Dartmouth’s Main Auditorium on October 5, Gisela Joao on October 14 at BCC’s Jackson Arts Center in Fall River, and Ladies Night on October 19 at the Kilburn Mills Event Center in New Bedford (zeiterion.org)!  

Find out who’s on stage at the District Center for the Arts in Taunton! There’s Duppy Conquerors October 6, Who Made Who October 7, Stilleto October 14, Best Friends Girl October 20, The Bangos October 21, The Brothers Project October 27 (thedistrictcenterforarts.com). 

Don’t miss the RI Bluegrass Festival on October 1 at Frerich’s Farm in Warren (frerichsfarm.com). 

Head for Pilgrim Memorial Hall in Plymouth for The Breakers October 7, Amy Grant October 26 (memorialhall.com).

Find out who’s playing at The Rooftop at Kilburn Mill in New Bedford’s South End (kilburnmill.com)!

Bring your picnic basket to Running Brook Vineyard in Dartmouth for free live music every Saturday and Sunday (runningbrookwine.com)!  

Check out who’s on stage at the Spire Center for the Performing Arts of Greater Plymouth! Don’t miss Butcher, Baglio & Estes October 7, Mark Erelli October 12, Shamarr Allen October 13, Pousette-Dart Band October 14, Lisa Bastoni October 19, Slaid Cleaves October 20 (spirecenter.org). 

Enjoy wine tastings and live jazz on Saturdays at Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth (greenvale.com).

Head for The Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River for great music! Don’t miss Amythyst Kiah October 5, Coco Montoya October 6, Larry McCray October 7, Martin Barre October 12, Amy Helm October 13, Matt Andersen October 26, Paul Bialtowicz’s “Nosferatu LIVE” October 28 (narrowscenter.com).

Classical acts

Don’t miss Festival Ballet Providence’s performance of “Death and the Maiden” October 13-15 at the Woodman Center in Providence (festivalballetprovidence.org)!

The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra will present Jeremy Denk Plays Mozart October 13-14 at The VETS, Tower of Power and the RI Philharmonic Orchestra October 28 (riphil.org).

Listen to the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra perform its new season premiere “Three Worlds” at the Bronspiegel Auditorium at New Bedford High School on October 14 (nbsymphony.org). 

The great outdoors

Check out what’s happening at the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth. The trails are free and open to the public every day from dawn to dusk (lloydcenter.org). 

Pack a picnic and stroll through the whimsical Green Animals Topiary Gardens in Portsmouth (newportmansions.org)!

Take a leisurely stroll through Blithewold Mansion and Gardens in Bristol (blithewold.org)!

Go on a free Bird Walk or Flower Walk at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown (normanbirdsanctuary). 

Take a stroll through the urban greenspace of the Allen G. Haskell Public Gardens in New Bedford (thetrustees.org).

Stay in shape!

Bike for clean water! Join in the 16th Annual Buzzards Bay Watershed Ride on October 2, from Little Compton to Woods Hole through the scenic landscapes of the South Coast (savebuzzardsbay.org/discover/events)!

Learn about the free virtual classes in meditation, laughter yoga, tai chi, yoga, and smoking-cessation hypnosis, offered by New Bedford Wellness Initiative (facebook.com/NewBedfordWellnessInitiative).

Register now for the Newport Marathon October 9 (newportmarathon.com) or the Pell Bridge Run/Walk on October 16 (pellbridgerun.com).

Explore the waterways of Providence in a single or tandem kayak (providencekayak.com).  

Get Healthy! “Walk With a Doc” on Saturdays at Buttonwood Park Zoo, part of the New Bedford Wellness Initiative (nbewell.com)!