Great Pumpkin Farm Fall Festival

The Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence calls itself Western New York's greatest fall festival, at 11199 Main Street. Weekend admission covers a long list, including hayrides, the Big Oak Express, a pumpkin barrel train, pedal karts, the Pumpkin Hill Slide, a haymaze, petting zoo, face painting, and live music at the Witches Brew. Contests run through the weekends: children's and adult pie eating, scarecrow making, mummy wrapping, and a Great Pumpkin Pie-Eating Championship. A pumpkin cannon shoots pie pumpkins more than 3,000 feet. The bakery turns out pumpkin and apple donuts and cider. Weekdays bring a shorter set of stops, including the Halloween store and playground. More than 40 attractions run across the festival weekends.

Our take: Use a weekday for pumpkins and the bakery, and a weekend for contests and shows.