Pick of the Patch

If there's one thing we can all look forward to as the warm summer changes to a cool autumn, it's fall harvest. With the changing of the seasons comes delicious produce. There's a reason harvest is a time of celebration - it's because the food is awesome! Fall's harvest is colourful, hardy, and full of flavor. You don't want to miss out on fresh sweet corn, apples, broccoli, squash and many other vegetables in season. Visit a farmers' market in Campbellford, Hastings, Codrington, Cobourg and Port Hope. Farm Fresh Destinations are a click away so you can tour freshness.

Food & Drink Festival - Cultivate is a food and drink festival, that brings chefs, restaurateurs, farmers and patrons together to celebrate Northumberland's culinary culture. The ticketed event includes food, refreshments and live music in Memorial Park, Port Hope.  

Brighton Applefest - The community of Brighton gathers together to celebrate the fall harvest season at the Brighton Applefest, the last weekend of September. Events include a street fair, live entertainment, apple pie contest, children's village, fresh baked goods and so much more. Don't miss the races at the Brighton Speedway Applefest Shootout Weekend.

See our Calendar of Events for more fall festivals and events.   

Autumn is an ideal time to hop in the car and take a fall driving tour of Northumberland! Rolling hills, lakes and an abundance of farm fields create the perfect fall colour tour. Take the Trent Hills Flavour Trail and feast on fall bounty or tour scenic country roads with colourful views. Ask for a copy of the Top 5 Road Trips Map Guide and create a fall getaway weekend.

If you prefer to be active in cooler weather, view the season's changing colours by cycling our trails. Northumberland is the eastern terminus of the signed Greenbelt Cycling Route that will take you by lush forests, winding rivers, welcoming communities, and roadside farm markets. Top 5 Cycling Routes features the best routes for cycling, complete with accommodations, restaurants and attractions that are registered on the Ontario By Bike network. You can even take VIA Rail's Bike Train that arrives daily in Cobourg (eastbound from Toronto) at lunchtime. Your bike rolls off of the baggage car so you're set to take a short ride down George Street to be in Cobourg in a matter of minutes. 

Celebrate the season the way it has been done for well over a century in rural Ontario at historic fall fairs. Livestock and trained animal shows; bake-offs; fruit, vegetable, flower and preserve contests; quilt and art shows; farm equipment displays; corn roasts and live entertainment. Each fair is different and some offer midways, demolition derbies, rodeos, tractor pulls, dances and more.

Warkworth Fall Fair and the Port Hope Fall Fair are mid-September, with the Roseneath Fall Fair near the end of September.

Halloween wouldn't be complete without a chance to be haunted. Phantom Farm is a Halloween tradition in Northumberland during October. Visitors to the farm (located on Howard Road, north of Port Hope) pay to enter the 4,000 square foot barn that has been fashioned into a true house of nightmares, complete with gory displays, darkened hallways and living, breathing (sometimes bleeding) residents that lash out. If you can make it all the way through without yelling 'chicken', pay a fee to take a hayride through the nearby haunted forest. Riders will experience the horror that lives in the trees and fields.

The last 3 Saturday's leading up to Hallowe'en is when you'll want to visit Cricklewood Farm in Brighton to find your way through their corn maze at night with a flashlight and the stars above to guide you (if you're lucky).

*NOTE: Due to COVID-19 some experiences and businesses may not be operating in their normal capacity for 2021. Check with individual businesses and attractions for current hours of operation.