Dozen Reasons Valley Forge Is Fall Fun For Families

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. - The end of summer in the Valley Forge area and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, brings cooler temperatures, colorful leaves and festivals galore. It also signals the arrival of 12 family-friendly events to fall for this autumn.

Green Lane Park will host the 10th Annual Scottish-Irish Festival, September 11 through 13. One of the largest Celtic festivals in the region, it features singers, dancers, bagpipers, food, crafts, games and more. German heritage is celebrated in Norristown, September 19, among the party animals at Elmwood Park Zoo's Oktoberfest, featuring seasonal craft brews and live music.

Colonial music, storytelling, crafts, games and even a dog show will be featured on September 26 during the Founder's Day Fall Festival at Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Historical Park. Asher's Chocolates Retail Store, in Souderton, will hold its free Fall Festival the same day, with face painting, a moon bounce, hot dogs and, one assumes, lots of chocolate.

Butler Avenue, in Ambler, comes alive with activity for its Oktoberfest on October 3. Music, artists, crafters, sidewalk sales, hayrides and, of course, beer will make for a grand celebration. Also on October 3, go from experiencing German heritage to Pennsylvania German tradition at the Apple Butter Frolic at Mennonite Heritage Center, in Harleysville. Visitors can sample food and see demonstrations of antique farm equipment and folk crafts. That night, get spooked at Pennypacker Mills, in Schwenksville, listening to Haunted Stories by the Bonfire while roasting marshmallows.

Laerenswaert is a German phrase meaning "worth learning" and at Peter Wentz Farmstead, visitors will learn by doing the same tasks that kept the farm running back in the 18th century. The Laerenswaert Colonial Craft Fair will take place October 10 in Worcester. Along the same lines, the All Hallow's Eve Fall Festival at Pennypacker Mills, in nearby Schwenksville, takes place October 17. There, guests can shuck corn or crush apples with a cider press, the way farmers did a century ago.

Enjoy the outdoors while exploring handmade fine crafts and the artisans who created them at the Pennsylvania Guild Fine Craft Fair, October 17 and 18. The fair, at Montgomery County Community College, in Blue Bell, also features music, food and children's activities.

For fresh fall produce, visit Willow Creek Orchards in Collegeville Thursday through Sunday and pick seasonal vegetables, herbs and pumpkins, right off the vine. And, speaking of pumpkins, hayrides to the pumpkin patch are part of Freddy's Fallfest at Freddy Hill Farms, in Lansdale. It runs every weekend in October and also offers pig races, pony rides, a farm zoo, funnel cake and more.

For additional information about these fantastic fall festivals and other area attractions, and to book affordable hotel accommodations and packages, visit www.valleyforge.org.

The Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ltd. is a nonprofit, membership-based sales and marketing organization that aggressively promotes the Valley Forge area and Montgomery County as a convention site and leisure visitor destination by encouraging patronage of its 500-plus member hotels, restaurants, attractions and services. The Bureau's Web site, at www.valleyforge.org, serves visitors, meeting planners, tour operators and residents.