If you’re looking for things to do that are recreation this fall, a number of area orchards and parks offer family friendly activities this year.
Bass Farm, located to the west of Mount Vernon, is once again this year celebrating the fall with their fall festival.
Fall festival runs every weekend in October and the last two weeks in September.
The festival also runs every day of the week.
“Some of the fun attractions we offer this year are the corn maze, pumpkin slide, pumpkin bowling, sling shot, and tons of photo opportunities,” said Chris Bass, owner of Bass Farms. “Outside of the other fall activities, we also have an 18-hole mini-golf course available when we are open.”
Fall festival weekends rung from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the store open until 9 p.m.
During the weekday, the fall festival runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
One of the newer attractions this year was the addition of a corn maze.
“The corn maze idea has been in the works for a few years,” Bass said. “We knew this would be a fun family-oriented activity for the community that would also add a lot of fun when visiting our farm in the fall.”
The design for the corn maze this year took some planning ahead of time, with the maze being custom made at Bass Farms this year.
“The only challenge we ran into this year was the lack of rain we had this fall,” Bass said.
The corn maze takes roughly half an hour to 45 minute to complete, if someone is to reach all of the check points inside the maze.
“The maze has something fun inside for everyone to explore,” Bass said. “Customers can play the Farm Scene Investigation Game and help solve the mystery of who captured Farmer Joe. The game is similar to Clue, and once you reach each check point inside, you can punch hole your card and find out who did it.”
The lines on the maze card represent the paths, not the spaces.
The corn maze is open daily, with the last entry into the maze being 8:30 p.m each night (30 minutes prior to Bass Farms closing for the evening).
The last weekend of the fall festival is Oct. 30 and Oct. 31.
Rules people should remember – while the farm does love dogs, they only allow service dogs due to the health department requests. People are encouraged to bring your fun attitude as there is something for everyone to do to have fun at the park.
“Don’t forget to stop in the shop for an ice cream cone to finish off your visit,” Bass said.
One of the reasons that Bass Farms loves the Fall Festival they host every year is to be part of the family friendly memories each year.
“Year after year we see hundreds of families making memories on our farm, and that is what we love,” Bass said. “We look forward to the traditions and pictures that come from it all. We really enjoy offering games that are interactive for the entire family. We live in such a technology driven world, sometimes it’s nice to slow down and play a giant game of Connect Four, or Giant Jenga! We hope you can ‘Catch Memories With Us’”
The farm also has annual events every year, and encourages people to check out their Facebook page to make sure they are up to date on their coming activities.
“Our next outdoor movie night on the farm is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 16,” Bass said. “We will be playing the movie Hocus Pocus beginning at dusk on the farm. This is a free event to the public. We encourage people to bring their blankets and chairs and settle in for a fun evening.”
Aside from the outdoor activities and games at Bass Farms, there are also pumpkins, gourds and other seasonal decor at the farm.