In Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, we don’t just do fall—we overdo it. The entire month is loaded with autumn-themed activities, but the first Saturday in October is completely unhinged. If you’ve got the stamina, watch a molten iron pour at the Carrie Blast Furnace, see apples crushed on a 1907 cider press in Delmont, catch a steam engine show in Portersville, and hang out in Mars with the best high school mascot in the country. Then, keep the fall fun going with our guide to things to do around Pittsburgh.
Stop by These 19 Pittsburgh Fall Festivals
Franklin Applefest
October 2–3 | Franklin
The Victorian town of Franklin draws over 100,000 visitors for Applefest. About 90 minutes north of the city in Venango County, Franklin’s apple-forward festival is one of the largest in the region. Expect more than 300 arts and crafts and food vendors, as well as live music, a 5K, and a pie contest.
Festival of Combustion
October 3 | Rankin
From 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Rivers of Steel takes over the Carrie Blast Furnaces, a National Historic Landmark and one of the last pre-WWII iron-making sites in the country. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the festival centers around an all-day iron pour, with molten metal flowing from a furnace into molds that festivalgoers can help carve. Attendees can also catch blacksmithing, glassblowing with the Pittsburgh Glass Center, welding, power hammer forging, ceramics, a heritage craft tent with whiskey tasting, live music, food trucks, and self-paced tours of the furnaces themselves. After dark, there’s a glowing ceramic reveal, and the night closes with fireworks over the stacks. Closed-toe shoes are required.
Confluence PumpkinFest
October 2–4 | Confluence
The Laurel Highlands are a particularly magical place to spend a day in the fall, so combine a visit with the Confluence PumpkinFest in Confluence. This small town along the Great Allegheny Passage in Somerset County hosts a festival featuring pumpkin contests, a pumpkin queen pageant, a 5K, classic cars, and a parade.
Mars Applefest
October 3 | Mars
A record number of vendors—more than 200—and close to 10,000 visitors will descend on the borough for its one-day celebration of autumn and apples. The day kicks off with an apple pancake breakfast at the Masonic Lodge, then it’s a nonstop afternoon of classic festival foods like funnel cakes and corn dogs, crafts, games, and a mega book sale at the Mars Public Library. Make sure to snap photos beside the town’s famous flying saucer sculpture and with the Mars Fightin’ Planet—the Mars High School mascot, which was recently voted the number-one high school mascot in the country.
Delmont Apple ‘n Arts Festival
October 3–4 | Shields Farm, Delmont
Shields Farm in Delmont hosts over a hundred craft, art, and food vendors, plus antique equipment displays and fresh-pressed cider made on an historic 1907 press. The cider press is the big draw, because watching apples turn into cider on 100-year-old equipment is one of the best ways to celebrate the season.
Fall Apple Fest at the Portersville Steam Show
October 3 | Portersville
An apple festival with a serious appreciation for old machinery, the Portersville Steam Show is dedicated to preserving and demonstrating the steam engines, antique tractors, gas engines, and other equipment that powered an earlier era of American agriculture and industry. At the Fall Apple Fest, watch apples become fresh cider and apple butter, then explore the vintage village, sawmill, blacksmith shop, and machine shops. There are also train rides, farm animals, an antique car rally, kids’ pedal-tractor pulls, Amish doughnuts, and plenty of sweet apple treats.
National Apple Harvest Festival
October 3–4, 10–11 | Arendtsville
Roughly ten miles northwest of Gettysburg and three and a half hours east of Pittsburgh sits the South Mountain Fairgrounds in Arendtsville. Since 1965, the grounds have drawn visitors for arts and crafts dealers, craftspeople’s demonstrations, contests, food stands, orchard bus tours, antique cars, steam engine displays, a petting zoo, and the crowning of the Pennsylvania Apple Queen. Gates open at 8 a.m. on festival days, rain or shine. If you make the trip, the Gettysburg battlefield is just a short drive, and worth a day of its own.
Fort Ligonier Days
October 9–11 | Ligonier
Ligonier hosts Pennsylvania’s best-known fall festival to commemorate the October 12, 1758, attack on Fort Ligonier. During the event, the historic site runs battle demonstrations, artillery firings, and encampments with 150 reenactors, with Sutlers Row on the museum lawn featuring 18th-century artisans. Along with the history, the town also hosts juried crafts, food vendors—make sure to try the raspberry pie—local spirits, live music, a grand parade, and a 5K, with fireworks on Saturday night.
Fort Ligonier’s museum is worth a stop, too: Its George Washington Gallery displays the pair of flintlock saddle pistols that the Marquis de Lafayette presented to Washington during the Revolutionary War. The collection also includes Washington’s handwritten account of the November 1758 Friendly Fire Incident near the fort, along with artifacts recovered from the recently-identified battlefield.
Houston Pumpkin Festival
October 9–11 | Houston
About 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, the Houston Pumpkin Festival is a Washington County institution, with more than 175 food and craft vendors, entertainment, children’s activities, best-scarecrow contest, and a parade.
Zelienople Country Fall Festival
October 9–11 | Zelienople
Zelie, as the locals call it, hosts two days of music on Main Street, plus vendors, pumpkin and costume contests, chainsaw carving, a petting zoo, free horse-drawn wagon rides, historic encampments and demonstrations, as well as paranormal ghost walks through three of the town’s towers. Make it a family event or go adults-only and do a self-guided tasting tour of some of Z-town’s top-notch breweries, including ShuBrew, Lolev, and Burgh’ers—all within two blocks—as well as Union Brothers in nearby Harmony.
Dormont Street & Music Festival
October 10 | Dormont
You can enjoy three stages, 18 bands, and more than 60 vendors—plus food, arts, and crafts—on a closed-off street in a walkable South Hills neighborhood you can reach on the T. The best part, besides the easy access: It’s totally free.
Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkins Festival
October 17–18 | Strip District
At the city’s signature pumpkin event, the headliners are the Atlantic Giants, competition-level pumpkins that weigh more than a ton, and the pumpkin drop, which is exactly as satisfying as it sounds. Carving, carriage rides, glassblowing, and a 5K round out a schedule of family-friendly events.
Punkin Chunkin
October 17 | Hartwood Acres
How far can a trebuchet launch a pumpkin? More than 150 feet, if SHARP—the Sarah Heinz Advanced Robotics Program at Sarah Heinz House—is involved. The youth robotics program brings its full-size wooden trebuchet to Hartwood Acres to see just how airborne the autumnal gourds can get. Stick around for crafts, games, face painting, interactive storytelling, cookie decorating, and a farmers market.
Pittsburgh Playhouse Fall Fest
October 23–November 1 | Downtown
A free, multi-day downtown street festival with food, drinks, games, vendors, and arts and crafts, built around Boo’s Halloween House Party, a family Halloween musical. Fall Fest includes pumpkin painting and activities on Forbes Avenue, while Boo’s Halloween House Party takes place inside the Playhouse. The fest runs through November 1 and is the most indoor-friendly option on our list, so head over if the weather is rainy.
Ligonier Pumpkin & Spice Festival
October 24 | Ligonier
This is Ligonier’s second festival of the season, but it’s absolutely first-tier: a strolling-and-tasting event, it features restaurants, bakeries, and other local businesses serving fall-flavored food and drinks. And make sure to check out the pumpkin-decorating contest at the town’s bandstand.
Jack O’Lantern Extravaganza
October 2–November 1 | Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, Highland Park
On select nights, walk a trail through the Pittsburgh Zoo that features more than 3,500 hand-carved jack o’lanterns, with themed sections built around zoo animals, Pittsburgh figures, cryptids, and pop culture. The finale is a 650-foot Living Wall of pumpkins synchronized to a light and sound show. Thursday nights include a 21+ tent with mixology classes and comedy. Don’t forget to stop by and see the zoo’s new lion cub in her habitat too!
Phipps Fall Flower Show: Alice’s Adventures in Autumn
October 10–November 1 | Oakland
Phipps has been mounting chrysanthemum shows since 1894, making this the longest-running fall flower show in the country. This year’s celebration carries the Alice in Wonderland theme over from the summer show and reworks it for autumn, pairing the Wonderland scenes with mums in an absurd range of shapes and sizes, plus a few spooky additions.
Kennywood Phantom Fall Fest
Through November 1 | West Mifflin
Get dahn to Kennywood on select weekend afternoons through November 1 for family fun: more than 30 rides under the foliage, as well as trick-or-treating and food. After 6 p.m., the park hands itself over to seven haunted houses and four scare zones, with the big coasters running in the dark. Both halves are included in one admission, but parental discretion is advised after dark.
Seven Springs Autumnfest
October 3–4, 10–11, 17-18 | Seven Springs
Seven Springs Autumnfest is an easy excuse to head into the Laurel Highlands for fall foliage and mountain views. Take a scenic chairlift ride, listen to live music, wander through the haze maze and pumpkin patch, explore the resort’s outdoor activities, then warm up with the Autumnfest Buffet at the Slopeside Dining Room. The All-Day Adventure Pass bundles access to more than 11 activities, including the Alpine Slide, rock wall, and paddleboarding. Or make a weekend of it and stay overnight at the resort.
About the Author
Kenny Gould is a writer and the founder of Hop Culture, a digital magazine focused on the beer industry. In addition to writing about food and beverages, he’s also the author of several fiction books, including the bestselling fantasy The Castle of 1,000 Doors. He holds a BA from Duke University, an MFA from Chatham University, and an MBA from NYU Stern. To learn more about Kenny, visit his website or follow him on Instagram at @thekennygould.
Featured Image From Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkins Festival
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