Fall is finally here and although the season may look different this year, Chicago is ready to provide you with plenty of fun activities to do during the fall. Whether you want to explore the outdoors or stay cozy inside, there are several options to pick from. Grab your favorite sweater weather outfit and check out this list of what’s happening around the city during this color-changing time.
Goebbert’s Farm & Garden Center
Visiting a pumpkin patch is a great family friendly activity to do before Halloween. The Goebbert’s Farm & Garden Center is located in South Barrington, Illinois and offers a variety of activities for all ages. This farm not only allows guests to pick out from a selection of pumpkins, but they have several fun-filled attractions such as the Animal Land, Duck Derby and Pumpkin Eating Dino! In Animal Land guests have the opportunity to see and spoon feed cows, pigs, goats and baby chicks as well as other exoctic animals such as zebras, kangaroos, camels and a giraffe. In Duck Derby, guests get to select a rubber duck of their choice and race against friends in the farm’s derby. Lastly, in the Pumpkin Eating Dino guests will watch the farm’s dinosaur munch on some pumpkins! Head to the website to check their hours and purchase tickets.
Music Box of Horrors at the Drive-In
If you love scary movies, ChiTown Movies Drive-In will be the place to be for the month of October. The Music Box of Horrors is known as a 24-hour marathon of horror movies at the Music Box Theatre. This year, it will change to a month long horror movie marathon at the Drive-In. Nothing says “spooky season” like a late screening at the drive in! Movies will be played Sunday-Thursday and double features on Friday and Saturday nights. In addition, every weekend will be themed as “Grindhouse Fridays, Rip-off Saturdays and Sequel Sundays.” Music Box will not only offer a movie, but also pre-show content, filmmaker Q&A’s, trivia with prizes, and other surprises. Even if you don’t have a car, you can select Row A when purchasing tickets and bring a chair to sit on! Tickets can be purchased online.
Night of 1,000 Jack-o’-Lanterns
The Chicago Botanic Garden is hosting their annual event of a thousand hand-carved pumpkins that light up at night time. The pumpkins featured in this unique experience are all real and some are as large as 150 pounds. Artists from a New York based company called Rise of the Jack O’Lanterns use scalpels, knives, gauges and power tools to creatively sculpt each pumpkin. It can even take these artists 15 hours to sculpt a single pumpkin. This event will be open Oct. 14-18 and 21-25 and will offer seasonal drinks such as cider and ale. Due to COVID-19 this year the trail will be one way with a separate entrance and exit, extra space between pumpkins for social distancing and face coverings required for all attendees. Tickets can be purchased online and if you become a Garden member parking will be free.
Written By: Marla Chavez Garcia