We are standing at my favorite hinge of the year. The last full weekend of September is here, the first weekend of October is packed, and the weeks after that are full of the kind of events that make these towns feel like home. I went back through the calendars this week and verified everything below with the hosts, park districts and event pages, so you can plan with confidence. As always, give the venue a quick check before you head out, since small details can shift.
Saturday, September 26: Portage Harvest Festival
If you have not made it to a harvest festival yet this season, this is the weekend. Portage closes out September with its Harvest Festival from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Founders Square: live music, food trucks, a beer garden, games and local artisan, baker and crafter vendors. It is a friendly, low-pressure way to spend a Saturday, and Portage is an easy drive from nearly anywhere in the South Suburbs.
Sunday, September 27: Empty Bowls in New Lenox
New Lenox wraps its late-summer season with Last Call Before Fall, and the headliner is the Friends of the Park Empty Bowls fundraiser at Village Commons from 1 to 5 p.m. For $20 you take home a hand-painted bowl and get unlimited soup tastings, with every dollar supporting the park district. It is the kind of small, warm event that reminds you why people choose towns like New Lenox: neighbors who show up for each other. If you are in the mood for music instead, Bryson Tiller plays Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park Sunday night at 7 p.m.
October 1 through 4: Mokena Family Fall Fest
Mokena's biggest weekend of the season runs Thursday through Sunday at historic Yunker Park and The Oaks Recreation and Fitness Center on La Porte Road. The carnival opens Thursday at 5 p.m., and at 7 p.m. there is a free family movie night, this year screening Disney's Coco on the lawn. Friday brings a special-needs carnival from 3:30 to 5 p.m. before the general carnival opens at 5:30, with free live music in the evening. Saturday runs noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m., with the carnival, a beer tent, kids' activities and plenty of festival food throughout. Admission is $5, which makes it one of the best family values of the fall.
Saturday, October 3: Crown Point's Oktoberfest
Across the state line, Crown Point's Oktoberfest takes over Bulldog Park from 1 to 10 p.m., free and family friendly, with German food, live music, a beer garden and hayrides. It is hosted by the City of Crown Point itself, and it is one of those afternoons where the whole park feels like a neighborhood block party. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in Crown Point, park the car and walk the town: this is the town at its best.
The same weekend, in St. John
St. John holds its Oktoberfest October 2 through 4 at St. John the Evangelist Parish on Wicker Avenue: Friday 5 to 11 p.m., Saturday 1 to 11 p.m. and Sunday noon to 8 p.m. It is a parish-run fest with its own loyal following, and it pairs well with Mokena or Crown Point if you want a full festival weekend.
Saturday, October 3: Orland Park's Great Pumpkin Party
Orland Park's Great Pumpkin Party returns to Centennial Park on West Avenue in two sessions, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. Pony rides, hayrides, a barrel train, marshmallow toasting, trunk-n-treat and a pumpkin for each child, all for $5 to $7 per person ages 3 and up. It is the definition of a perfect October morning for little ones, and it draws a crowd, so it is worth registering early.
Sunday, October 4: Making Strides of the South Suburbs
If you would rather spend a morning giving back, the American Cancer Society's Making Strides walk steps off at 7:30 a.m. in Orland Park at 10499 West 153rd Street. It is a meaningful way to start the weekend, and walking is open to all ages and paces.
October 9 through 11: Griffith Oktoberfest and Valparaiso's Fall Harvest Festival
The second weekend of October stays busy. Griffith runs its Oktoberfest October 9 through 11, and Valparaiso holds its Fall Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Central Park Plaza, with pumpkin painting, apple cider and bounce houses in the heart of downtown. Valparaiso's courthouse square is worth the drive on any weekend, harvest festival or not.
Saturday, October 10: Fallapalooza in New Lenox
New Lenox brings Fallapalooza to the Performing Arts Pavilion at the Village Commons on October 10 from noon to 4 p.m.: live music from Derek Caruso and The Blues Fuse, bounce houses, train rides, face painting and pumpkin decorating. It is a low-key, family-sized festival, and it pairs well with a morning at the Frankfort Country Market.
The markets keep going
The Frankfort Country Market keeps its Sunday mornings going from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oak and Kansas Streets in historic downtown Frankfort through October 25, with around 70 vendors most weeks: produce, flowers, honey, baked goods and more. Tinley Park's Farmers Market holds its Saturday hours, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Harmony Square, through October as well. Neither stops just because the calendar turned, yet each one is a small ritual of the season I never skip.
Dates to save
A few more to put on the fridge: Ghostly Golf Weekend at Tinley Junction Mini Golf runs October 2 through 4, REACH Fall Fest takes over McCarthy Park on Friday, October 2 from 6 to 8 p.m., and Frankfort's Ghost Stories on the Green returns to Breidert Green on October 23. Between the festivals and the markets, you could fill every weekend for a month and still not see it all.
If you are thinking about making one of these towns your next home, come visit on a weekend like these. Watch how people meet their neighbors, how the squares fill up, how the season brings everyone together. I would love to help you find the right spot for your next chapter, and I have got your back from the first question to the closing table. You Can With Joanne!™