The Brooklyn Botanic Garden will bring the autumn spirit at its Fall Harvest Festival on Oct. 25, with an annual celebration featuring family-friendly activities, performances and a costume parade.
The garden’s grounds will be transformed into a fall fairground. On the Cherry Esplanade, folk performances by Grammy-winning artist Susan McKeown and Brooklyn-based artists Wifetime and Louie Lou Louis. There, guests can eat and drink from their pop-up beer and cider gardens, play games and get their palms read.
At the Atrium and Atrium Patio, festivalgoers can visit the Terrain Pumpkin Patch to buy and decorate gourds and pumpkins. Experts from Maniac Pumpkin Carving will perform a live demonstration and give “tips and tricks for carving your own pumpkin at home.”
Other festivities include a costume parade led by the Shinbone Alley Stilt Band and creating chalk art with ChalkArtNYC.
Programming will also reflect the borough and the season’s cultural diversity. The Redhawk Native American Arts Council will present traditional dances, and Haitian singer Riva Nyro Précil will present song and dance tied to harvest traditions and Haitian Vodou in partnership with the Haitian Cultural Exchange.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden President and CEO Adrian Benepe said the festival brings together the best of the season without requiring New Yorkers to trek upstate.
“With the Fall Harvest Festival, visitors can celebrate the most anticipated season in the Northeast while they enjoy local beer and cider, live music, a myriad of activities for children and leaf-peeping alongside neighbors and friends,” Benepe said.
In addition to entertainment, visitors can join guided tours exploring the fruits and nuts of the season, learn about Indigenous “Three Sisters” farming traditions and learn seed saving processes to “preserve food traditions and empower food sovereignty.”
Tickets are available at bbg.org/harvestfest, starting at $35 for adults and $15 for children, with discounts for Garden members.
