PENFIELD – Autumn is in full swing, and for many, this is their favorite time of the year. Some enjoy the cooler weather. Others venture out to see nature’s brilliant leaf displays. Still more look forward to fresh apple cider and other treats normally enjoyed during the fall and harvest season.
These experiences and more will be available at Parker Dam State Park’s eighth annual Fall Festival and Pumpkin Float on Oct. 19. From 12 p.m. until 5 p.m., you should be sure to check out traditional activities, such as apple-cidering, candle-dipping, Bannock bread, butter-making, natural dyes, leaf art, pumpkin-carving, apple butter and pioneer games. Throughout the afternoon, there will also be other educational programming on topics such as traditional dried meat, Pennsylvania elk, lumber camp cooks and creepy crawly critters.
Several vendors, artists and craftspeople will also be on hand to showcase and sell their wares throughout the afternoon. The concession stand will be open during the festival until early evening for festivalgoers to purchase many delicious items. From 2 p.m. until 6 p.m., the Friends of Parker Dam will be treating festivalgoers to hay rides for a nominal fee that supports the organization’s projects at Parker Dam State Park.
At 4 p.m., the Friends of Parker Dam State Park will also be organizing a costume parade for children and children at heart. Anyone wishing to participate in the parade should meet near the Beach House shortly before 4 p.m. The parade will travel through the festival area.
Following the parade there will be a Trick-or-Treat in the campground and cabin areas until 6 p.m. Overnight visitors in the campground and cabin areas will be given a tag to place on their site post or cabin door if they wish to participate in the Trick-or-Treat (please visit only those campsites with a Trick-or-Treat tag on their site post or cabin door).
The evening activities start at 6:30 p.m. when the Beach Bonfire will begin- bring along a lawn chair or blanket. The Pumpkin Float will take place at 7 p.m., when lighted jack-o-lanterns adrift on the lake. Then until 8 p.m., you can sit around the bonfire and listen to tales, while the pumpkins, and with any luck the stars, sparkle off the lake.
Parking will be available all day along Mud Run Road in the Day Use Area and also in the turf parking area below the Park Office. All activities are just a short walk into the Day Use Area near the Beach House and Pavilions 1 through 4. Admission, parking and educational activities are free of charge.
