Officially, fall is the holiday season. People have exhausted themselves from work and now they want a good relaxation time. And fall is not just about thanksgiving or Halloween, there is more to it.
As per the study, fall is highly consumer spending season. And as an event organizer, you definitely want to take advantage of the season. When you start with your fall festival promotion towards the end of the summer you’ll have less competition and more audience attendance.
So, you make the most out of this fall season we are bringing you the top fall festival ideas to make your event irresistible for everyone- from adults to kids.
Firstly, four must-haves for every fall festival,
From spooky scavenger games to harry potter’s quidditch tournaments, we have sorted out everything for you.
Fall Theme Ideas
1. Fall fest traditional theme: Fall is about leaves changing colors, and air getting breezy- that makes a perfect nature and scenic beauty to have art and craft, good music, and food. This creates a good party theme for kids to keep them busy while the adults enjoy their time at the party.
2. Glitter, Gold, and Glam: As fall is about bright orange color, you can decide your party theme around gold and glitter. Pumpkin painting, painting fabrics and making drapes, painting walls, with some sparkling candles.
For example, you can ask people to dress up in glitter costumes for the fall-themed party. To make it more fun you can also ask them to put on glamorous facemasks and turn it into a masquerade party.
3. Mega Gala: Looking to host some formal events for fundraising? Gala night makes the best one. A gratitude gala is best suited for charity events and social gatherings. Don’t forget to include fine wine and dine. You can also get sponsorship for charity events quite fast.
4. Food Trucks: There is nothing like food that brings people together. And it is really fun to grab food from the food trucks. You can invite such food trucks to your party and host a fall food festival.
5. Indoor Trick or Treat: Many times parents don’t feel comfortable sending their kids to the neighborhood. Well, this makes a great replacement for that. Host these events in-lawns, or in parking lots where both adults and kids can dress up and have fun all together.
6. Crafting Events: Craft events can be a great event for kids’ fundraising. It keeps kids engaged and the fall festival is for a good cause. This can make a good family bonding fun event. Get greeting cards to invite inspiration here.
7. Hi-fi with Pie: From pumpkin pie to pecan pie, everyone loves a little dessert and sweetness. Host a pie-making content inviting chefs or home bakers. Ask your bakers to get creative and present you with unique decorative pies.
8. Grills and Chills: Combine BBQ with some music and drinks. You can invite people from around or collaborate with local BBQs for the party. This will not even cost you more. Get a spacious venue, set grill bars, have DIY decor, some music set-up and you are ready to roll!
9. Oktoberfest: Oktoberfest can be fun even with beer or without one! Decorate the place with red, blue, yellow, and other bright colors. Grill some sausage, have some pretzels, root beer, salad, and apple strudel. Don’t forget to call the DJ!
10. Halloween party: Halloween is a must-have fall party idea. Your fall party events are incomplete without a Halloween party. Turned your place into a spooky haunted place and ask people to dress up in costumes. Read this to get more inspiration on Halloween party ideas.
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Ideas for Fall Festival Activities
11. Pumpkin Carving: Kids and adults both love pumpkin carving. Decorating your outdoors with carved pumpkins gives you the complete vibe of the season. This can be a small or a big event as you like it. Invite teens with their parents or individuals for the pumpkin decorating event.
12. Face painting: Now, this is a necessity for adults and kids. Take your party to the next level by bringing in the face painting game. You can also invite artists to paint faces.
13. Scarecrow Making: Scarecrow is pretty much a mascot for the fall fests. It will not just keep the crows away but also the boredom from your party. What you’ll need is a stack of hay, drapes, and paint. It is a fun activity with fewer art supplies.
14. Photo Booths: Photobooths are fun and keep the audience engaged. Keep a photo booth, let people pose for instant photos, and just see how long the queue gets.
15. Mummy-making competition: Take your party to next level with mummy-making contents. Divide people into groups and ask them to dress one of their members into a mummy. Maybe cover them head to toe in toilet paper or white fabrics.
16. Football games: Organize a fun football or hockey tournament at the fall party. For a change involve people in a physical game. Create games for different age groups, get match speculators, and prizes for the winners.
17. Quidditch tournament: Well, hello! Who is not a potter head? From kids to adults everybody is a potter fan. And what is better than having your own kind of quidditch game? You don’t have flying brooms but you can always come up with your own rules. Get inspiration from quidditch.org to organize your tournament.
18. FarmVille: Fall is also a harvesting time, meaning farms are in full swing. Many people host farm tours educating about the growing, technology, livestock care, and others. This is mostly organized by wine-making companies.
19. Hayrides: Believe us or not, a lot of people love haunted hayrides. If you are not into this kind of tour but you can always make an exception and try out new things. You can pair this with a pumpkin contest or farm tours.
20. Hot air balloon: See the breathing fall foliage from the heights. Good weather, and beautiful views. Many event makers organize hot air balloon adventures during the fall season.
Fall Festival Game Ideas
21. Scavenger Hunt: Well, this should top your list. Prepare a hunt that goes along with your event theme and activities. Include relevant things that are part of your events, organization, and the autumn season.
22. Barrier Course: Games are more fun when you make them challenging. It is exciting for the views and the players. Use all the little things as your obstacles, be it spoons or chairs or anything. Bean bag toss makes a thrilling game to get everyone on board.
23. Candle Making: People often use candles to decorate their houses during fall. Then why not make it? DIY candle-making can be fun for every age group.
24. Bonfire Bash: With the bonfire, you can plan so many games around. Charades, outdoor karaoke, and such small activities. Just lit a bonfire, get marshmallows to roast, popcorn and drinks. Make a cozy event.
25. Pumpkin Bowling: Get creative with the games. Set pins in the alley made of bales and use the pumpkin as a rolling bowl. Let the embarrassment and fun begin!
26. Over and Under: remember passing the ball from one person’s head and under the leg of the next person in the line. Just like that, just replace the ball with a pumpkin. Pumpkin is heavier and makes the game challenging.
27. On the hunt: Just like the easter egg hunt, plan a treasure hunt like the same. For kids, you can hide small pumpkins or candies, and for adults replace them with dollars and offer them as a prize.
28. Classic old-school games: Jenga, monopoly, battleship to bingo are never getting out of trend. To keep the boredom at bay include these games in your party.
29. Tug of war: Bring people together in an old-fashioned way. Let them do some muscle work, all you need is a long rope, people, and a prize.
30. Movie Night: Chill outdoor nights with cozy blankets, drinks, and the perfect movie on the big screen in the best fall fest ideas. Don’t forget to grab the popcorn.
31. Wreath Making: Whether it is Halloween or New Year’s, you need a wreath to decorate your front doors. Wreath making is fun for people of all ages. Supply basic art and supplies to your participants and ask your attendees to bring in extra decoration material if they want.
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Food and Drink Ideas for Fall Festival
Without food and cocktails, your party is dry and incomplete. Fall is a harvest season so you must have delicious food on the counter. Here are some food and drinks ideas for fall festival which you can serve and also include in the fall party as a contest.
32. Chilli Cook-Off: You must have friends flaunting around about their chili. Well, this makes a perfect occasion to find out whose chili is the absolute best. Invite your friends or anyone for the chili face-off and vote for whose chili is delicious. You can judge based on creativity, best flavors, and spice.
33. Wine and Dine: Wine expert says fall is the best time to enjoy whites and light reds. Well, wine with an elegant dinner is something everyone would kill for. You can also pair this with a wine tasting event. If you don’t know about wine tasting, invite a wine expert to teach your guests about the drink.
34. Food Harvest: Fall is not just about thanksgiving dinner. You can have friends’ food harvest dinner. Fall brings a variety of fruits and vegetables like potatoes, apples, sprouts, figs, pumpkin, and whatnot. Host a grand dinner for your friends and have every dish on your platter. Here are some ideas:
- Brussel sprouts
- Quinoa salad
- Butternut ravioli
- Roasted corn
- Berry mocktails
- Pumpkin or apple pie
35. Cocktail Making: Here, is your soiree! Raise a toast with seasonal mocktails like apple sangria, orange or cranberry margarita, some hot bourbon, and others. Send the receipt and ingredients before the mocktail-making event so that your attendees are prepared.
Pro tips for last-minute fall festival ideas that won’t fail
If you decide to organize a fall party at the eleventh hour here are some pro tips for you.
Do not panic if you haven’t even started. Well, there is a long list of event planning and you need to check all the boxes. So here are a few things that will make your work easy peasy.
Like any event, your fall party should be filled with music, food, drinks, theme, and activities. And here are some event ideas you can always include in your autumn party events.
- Pumpkin carving/ pumpkin patch
- Apple picking and candy corn
- Football
- Halloween costume parties
Now, Moving Forward!
Planning and implementing the fall festival ideas is daunting as it is one of the biggest times of the year you don’t want to miss out on anything.
Moving forward, when you’re done with planning your entire event what you need to do next is promote and sell fall festival tickets.
While you are busy planning your events, don’t forget your end goal to invite people to your event and sell your event tickets.
Your events will be visible, in front of millions of people searching for events. And with AllEvents you can tap into event trends at no cost.
Now, what are you waiting for? Publish your events now and start selling tickets.
Manali is a writer, editor, and content marketer by profession who specializes in event management and planning. She is working with AllEvents to help them create engaging content that drives the event organizers forward.