Your guide to Maine’s best fall festivals and events

Fall usually beckons the question: Where can I pick my own apples?

The answer is: all over the Midcoast. So pack up the car and take a road trip to the nearest orchard for a day of fun.

These farms offer pick-your-own options, as well as yummy cider, apple butter and more.

Call to verify hours before trucking over, though (phone numbers are provided below). See more orchards and farms by visiting www.maineapples.org.

What will you do with all those…

Union Church of South Bristol is holding its annual Harvest Fair on Saturday, Nov. 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Community Center on Middle Road.

There will be crafts, wreaths, baked goods, Thanksgiving pies, cookie walk and white elephant table. There will also be a table for children to make Christmas ornaments.

Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. on, and will feature a choice of corn…

Tradition is tradition, and in Wiscasset, one of the annual ones is for children and in some cases adults also, to dress up for Halloween, meet at Wiscasset Middle School and parade down Federal Street.

It all happened again and on time Oct. 31, before the sun set on a brisk Halloween Friday. Local law enforcement officers and firefighters joined the Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Department in welcoming event-goers and making sure all stayed safe. Instructions and goody bags were…

Gargoyles, ghosts, reindeer, Nicki Minaj, Hipster Sleeping Beauty, hooded evil-doers from “The Purge,” three blind mice, the cast from “Alice in Wonderland,” a hairy-footed hobbit and a grocery bag all showed up to a class assembly.

No, this isn’t the start to a joke — it was Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31 at Wiscasset High School.

There was a full school assembly in which all four classes shuffled into the gymnasium to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and filled the…

Autumn is a time for photographers, professional and amateur, to break out their cameras and capture the glories of leaves changing, the fun fall festivals and activities, and of course, the obligatory Halloween selfies, too.

It’s time to vote for your favorites fall photos! The Best Fall Photo Contest ends Sunday, Nov. 2.

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Cheyenne Ryder of Wiscasset came to the Wiscasset Community Center with a devil-horned, Red Riding Hood costume and hope on Oct. 24. Her mother Janelle Haskell went online to get the 6-year-old the costume.

As for the hope, that centered on Ryder’s goal to find one of eight special eggs in a soggy field of thousands of eggs Friday night.

The black and orange eggs held goodies, but the eight “golden eggs,” as Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Department employees and volunteers…

Good news: The town voted in favor of the Edgecomb Eddy School's tractor purchase. Now the question is its maintenance, since the old tractor could have gone on much longer, if it was taken care of. If the old one is put out to bid, who would buy a rusted out tractor? Or are there ways to clean and repair it. That’s probably more expensive than it's worth. Or can we get a little for it as parts, or scrap metal?

It was nice to give Chip Griffin the three-volume "History of Edgecomb," by…

Wiscasset Primary School fourth grade students from Mrs. Erdmann's and Mrs. Morissette's classes have been hard at work rehearsing for their upcoming production of the play "Baba Yaga."

Just in time for Halloween, this Russian folktale tells the story of a hungry witch who eats children for breakfast.

In this picture, Ellery is rehearsing her role as the narrator.

If you haven't found the your pumpkin either for decorating your front steps or for making pumpkin puree, try heading out to Peoria, Illinois and I'll bet you can find pumpkin perfection thereabouts.

The University of Illinois reports that 90 percent of pumpkins grown in the United States are all grown within a 90 mile radius of Peoria. Can you imagine how beautiful the fields must be at harvest time? About 99 percent of all pumpkins sold are used for decorations and not for eating, so…

The fifth annual Trick or Treat Trunk Street will be held Sunday, Oct. 26, from 3 to 5 p.m., for kids to go from trunk to trunk up and down Dock Road in Alna. Cars parking on side of road should come early (2:30 p.m.). I would go earlier because there will be complimentary refreshments and hay rides by horse-drawn wagon.

Recognition will be given for most original costumes and best decorated vehicle. The road is closed to traffic on Dock Road for the event.

Thanks to Amy and Mike…

This Wednesday, the selectmen are holding a public hearing on the referendum vote about the budget committee at 7 p.m. at the town office. This will all sort itself out in the long run, I expect, but we’ll be voting Nov. 4 on any write-in candidates for the budget committee, and separately on whether to repeal the budget committee ordinance. Come to the hearing, see how these items relate to each other, and share your questions and comments.…

Have a spooky day in the Boothbay region by spending your afternoon with Underhound Railroad at Two Salty Dogs Pet Outfitters, at the corner of Boothbay House Hill and McKown Street, in Boothbay Harbor on Saturday, Oct. 25.

After dinner, visit the Ghost Train at the Boothbay Railway Village on Route 27 where Underhound Railroad will have a raffle, games, bake sale items, a doggie costume contest and, of course,…

On Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24 and 25 from 5:30-8 p.m. the Boothbay Railway Village will once again be cloaked in mystical moonlight and creepy candlelight for the annual Ghost Train.

Just once a year the ghouls and goblins come out to haunt the otherwise peaceful village. Passengers will journey through enchanted cemeteries, see zombies and other ghastly things, hear the calls of strange beasts and experience…

This year’s Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta featured a lot of pumpkin destruction, a major ongoing theme of the popular Midcoast Maine festival.

The Big 10 Inch punkin chunker air cannon sent pumpkins 3,500 feet into the Great Salt Bay until the boat (which was not made out of pumpkin) that tracks the shots broke down.

For more Pumpkinfest videos, click…

Dodging the frost for a little longer. Still, the Westport Island Human Resources and Conservation committees are teaming up again to sponsor a program to help island residents get ready for winter.

The primary feature is interior window insulating units, which greatly reduces heat loss from homes. To date, volunteers have built over 1,000 units, and these guys are ready to do much more.

…

If there was ever an appropriate time for the Red Cloak Haunted History Tours, it's the month of October!

Tour local haunts, historic buildings and locations, including cemeteries, led by the Lady in the Red Cloak, Sally Lobkowicz, in Boothbay Harbor and Wiscasset.

Don't forget your cameras. Many a tour-goer has captured a spirit or orb while walking through towns they thought they knew so well.

All lantern-lit walking tours begin at 7 p.m. and are by reservation only.

The eighth annual Damariscotta Pumpkinfest Regatta ended much the same way it typically does: with a flourish, some floundering and a whole lot of pulp.

The Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta, which started Friday, Oct. 10 with pumpkin painting, ended Monday, Oct. 14 with its signature event: the regatta.

But, before the small outboards were fired up or paddlers took their place in a pumpkin cockpit, the weekend featured a litany of pumpkin creativity and general fruit…

To be a human or a zombie: That was the question October 11 at CLC YMCA’s second annual Zombie Run, during Pumpkinfest in Damariscotta. The 31 entrants who opted for human received a minute’s head start on their seven zombie counterparts. But while the humans had the numbers and the time advantage, each of them also had three flags to lose.

“If the human loses all their flags ... they’re technically dead, but they can still finish the race,” the Y’s program director Joe Clark said…

There were 28 entries to the pumpkin dessert contest at Skidompha Library on Saturday, Oct. 11 as part of the Pumpkinfest weekend in Damariscotta.

With Heather Troydl, chairperson of the Pumpkinfest Dessert Contest officiating, and Ashley and Kelly Sawyer volunteering their time, the tasting got underway around noon.

Three judges sampled all the delectable looking desserts with pumpkin as the main…

A pumpkin is not the willingest of canvases.

There are dips, divots, scuffs, and the over-sized fruit seems to drink the paint.

That’s not even mentioning the inevitable spider left over from the pumpkin patch that caught a ride on the behemoth.

But with the great pumpkin deployment, the pumpkins have been placed from Damariscotta to Boothbay Harbor and points between. The deployment and…

Pat Colwell and the Soul Sensations will rock the house with a powerful mix of Motown and Memphis soul at the Chocolate Church Arts Center on Saturday, Oct. 11. This high-energy concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and is scheduled by popular demand to celebrate Bath’s AutumnFest.

The Chocolate Church Arts Center continues to highlight local and regional talent. Pat Colwell and the Soul Sensations is a100 percent old school R&B revue, complete with female backup singers and a full horn…

A pumpkin festival is just a festival without the addition of a very large, very orange fruit.

For this year's Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta, there will be a whole lot of pumpkin.

During the annual weigh-in on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Pinkham's Plantation in Damariscotta, the unofficial start to Pumpkinfest…

On Oct. 11 and 12 the Boothbay Railway Village along with the Boothbay Information Center will host a true New England Craft Fair.

This year the Fall Foliage Festival is part of a new initiative, called Maine Craft Weekend, sponsored by the Maine Crafts Association in partnership with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development’s Maine Made Program and additional support from the Maine Office of Tourism.

The beautiful crafts are center stage on the Village Green…

Sally Howe, left, and fellow Westport Island resident Anne Harris chat as they help at First Congregational Church’s Oktoberfest in Wiscasset on Oct. 4. Rain led church members to bring the fundraiser inside, except for the grilling of the bratwurst in the parking lot. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper

Wiscasset’s Wallace Roby, a member of First Congregational Church in Wiscasset, mans a table of tools and wooden items at a flea market that was part of the church’s Oktoberfest on Oct. 4…

Five thousand black and orange plastic eggs are a lot to fill.

Longtime Wiscasset Parks and Recreation employee Bonnie Blagdon has help putting candy and prizes into the eggs that will go outside the Wiscasset Community Center on Gardiner Road on Oct. 24, for the Halloween Raven Egg Hunt.

But, as with other seasonal events the department puts on, all the preparations also take a lot of thinking. In fact, when she’s stuffing those eggs, or filling bags for the Halloween Ghosts and…

Three-year-old Barrett “Bear” Hisler of Newcastle likes trains so much, when the steam train at Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna left Sheepscot Station with him on it Sept. 27, he started singing “I’ve been working on the railroad.”

He listens to the song on a cassette tape, grandmother Lisa Hisler, also of Newcastle, explained. Her grandson and his cousins are into all things trains, so she and other family members took them to the museum’s fall festival…

It is easy to get caught up in the day to day of life and forget to acknowledge and show gratitude for the abundance this season brings. Monhegan Island is no exception.

Despite its remote location 12 miles off the coast of Maine, residents and visitors will come together this week to celebrate the sea, the land, the community and other unique offerings that make this island so special.

Oktoberfest is an annual 16-day festival held in Munich, Germany since 1810 where over six million people gather to celebrate. On Saturday, October 4, the First Congregational Church of Wiscasset will hold a much smaller version on the common from 10 to 2. Proceeds of the fair go to the support of the church.

Church members will be grilling bratwurst and serving German sauerkraut as well as hot dogs, chips and drinks for lunch. Delicious homemade baked goods will be available, and the…

“hARvesT 13,” the final exhibit of the 2014 season, is now on display at the Stable  Gallery through Oct. 18.

For “hARvesT 13,” nine artists will be featured in the large carriage room of the Stable Gallery.

Talented and imaginative featured members include Priscilla McCandless with vibrant scenes from the local area, Bill Bellows' award winning woven rugs; paintings of Daisy Greene, Richard McFaul and Stephen Mott; hooked rugs by Susie Stephenson, textiles by Janet Percival,…

The leaves are changing, the nights are getting cooler, scarecrows and jack-o-lanterns have taken the place of summer guests, and soon pumpkins will will be spewing fumes and making a racket in Damariscotta.

Damariscotta's annual Pumpkinfest and Regatta officially begins Oct. 4 with the volunteer weigh-off at 7 a.m. at Pinkham's Plantation, which will be followed with a presentation on how to build a pumpkin boat.

A special two-hour leaf peepers tour is coming up on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. on The River Tripper, located at Schooner Landing Restaurant and Marina, by the bridge in Damariscotta (rain date is Oct. 11, 2 p.m.).

Ticket prices are $35 for adults, $30 for senior citizens and $20 for children under the age of 12.

Once again we will be lucky to have one of our favorite guest naturalist, Sarah Gladu, on board with us from the Damariscotta River Association (DRA), who will…

Dresden Fire Department members will be hosting its annual Fire Prevention Open House on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at Pownalborough Station (Route 197) from 5 to 7 p.m. There will be lots of information on what to do in case of a fire as well as fire prevention. 

Come meet and talk to the firefighters, check out the many fire trucks as well as those from surrounding towns, and meet Sparky the Fire Dog. There will be…

River Arts of Damariscotta, which offers classes and open studios year-round, announces its fall line-up of classes. From acrylics to encaustics, stone carving, ceramics and several fiber arts classes, the offerings also include a serious, but fun, course in color theory as well as open studios in ceramics, life sculpture and life drawing. Registration forms for all classes are on River Arts' website.

“Functional Pottery with Nathan Willever” meets Monday evenings from 5-7…

Inspired by Maine’s natural beauty, generations of painters, sculptors and decorative artists have identified the state as a brilliant backdrop for the creation of visual arts, fiber arts and Maine made crafts.

There are unique arts exhibitions to be enjoyed this summer and fall at museums throughout the state, such as an exhibition featuring quilts at the Penobscot Marine Museum;…

The Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta invites Maine artists to submit a design for this year’s official festival T-shirt. The selected design will be featured on the back of the T-shirt commemorating the eighth annual Pumpkinfest & Regatta, to be held from October 4 to 13.

A $500 prize will be awarded to the artist whose design is selected. To be eligible, the artist must be a Maine resident (year-round or summer).

The winning design will become property of the…

I recently received an email singed “a fan of What’s Cooking” asking for instructions for making your own pumpkin puree for a pie. Easy peasy!

The first thing you need to know is which type of pumpkin to buy: there are the larger pumpkins that are specifically grown for their size and should be used for decorating and carving into Jack O’Lanterns; and then there are the smaller,…

The fall season has definitely arrived and these cooler temperatures call out to me: “Apple pie … apple pie.”

Peter and I have planned our annual pilgrimage to Turner this week to pick Honey Crisp apples at our favorite orchard.

My mouth is watering in anticipation of plucking a big, fat juicy apple from a branch, giving…

Although the summer season is leaving with a bang, there are plenty of reasons to look forward to the fall season.

The boats (and tourists) may be going away for the winter, but the best time to be in Maine is just beginning.

No traffic

Almost as quickly as the leaves fall from the trees do the added motorists leave the streets…