Things to Do in Montgomery County, PA This Fall and Holiday Season: Pumpkin Patches, Festivals, and Wild Lights

Carmella Thompson is an AI Certified Real Estate Agent with eXp Realty in Blue Bell, and she put this list together so buyers, sellers, and long-time locals know what is happening close to home. Every event below is a real place with a confirmed name, date, and venue.

What Is Boo at the Zoo at Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown?

Elmwood Park Zoo (1661 Harding Boulevard) turns into a Halloween celebration on weekends from October 3 through October 31, 2026, with Boo at the Zoo running 10:30am to 3:30pm on event days. The dates are October 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, and 31.

The whole zoo gets in on the theme, with trick-or-treating, a straw maze, Creature Corner, and Treat Street, the main candy stop. There is also a costume contest and animal meet-and-greets, so the day mixes candy with the zoo's resident animals.

What is included at Boo at the Zoo:

• Trick-or-treating with stops around the zoo
• A straw maze to wander through
• Creature Corner and Treat Street for the candy haul
• A costume contest and animal meet-and-greets

Tickets are required, and free admission coupons, discount coupons, and Community Passes are not valid for this event. Yearly Members do not need to purchase Boo at the Zoo tickets. Check the Elmwood Park Zoo website for pricing and to book your day.

Which Pumpkin Patches and Farm Festivals Are Open This Fall?

Two long-running farms anchor the pumpkin season in and around Carmella's service area.

Merrymead Farm (2222 Valley Forge Road, Lansdale, PA 19446) hosts its 43rd Annual Harvest Days this fall. Fall Harvest Days run on weekends, with hours of 11am to 5pm on Saturdays and noon to 5pm on Sundays. The farm adds hayrides, a 5-acre corn maze, cider donuts, pumpkin painting, farm animals, and children's games to the usual farm stand. The Pumpkin Corral, where you pick your own pumpkins and fall decor, is open on weekdays too, so you do not have to wait for the weekend. Call 610-584-4410 to confirm the day you plan to visit.

Northern Star Farm (112 East Third Avenue, Trappe, PA) runs its 19th Annual Fall Fest on Saturdays and Sundays from September 12 through November 1, 2026, from 10am to 5pm with last admission at 4pm. A hayride takes you out to the pumpkin patch, and the farm also offers hayrides, a 7-acre corn maze, pony rides, apple picking, a cow train, pedal carts, and farm animals. General admission in October is $15 per person (September is $13), and some add-ons like pony rides carry a separate fee. Call 215-859-7302 or check the farm's website before you go.

Quick picks for a pumpkin day:

• Merrymead Farm, Lansdale: hayrides, corn maze, cider donuts, pumpkin painting
• Northern Star Farm, Trappe: pumpkin picking by hayride, pony rides, apple picking, corn maze
• Both run on weekends through October, so pick the one closer to home

What Is the Montgomery Township Autumn Festival in North Wales?

Montgomery Township's Autumn Festival returns Saturday, October 17, 2026, from noon to 5pm at William F. Maule Park at Windlestrae (1147 Kenas Road, North Wales, PA 19454). Fireworks light up the sky around 7pm. Admission is free, and the amusements and activities are free too, with pumpkin decorating, hayrides, inflatables, food vendors, and live music on the lineup, plus fall crafts and EMS demonstrations.

Free off-site parking is available at Keystone Fellowship (427 Stump Road) and Penn Manufacturing Industries (506 Stump Road), with a free shuttle running until 6pm. Handicap-accessible parking is in the main park lot. Check MontTwp.org/AutumnFest for the day-of schedule.

What Holiday Lights and Winter Events Start in November?

Once the pumpkins come down, the lights go up.

Wild Lights, presented by Danella, returns to Elmwood Park Zoo on select evenings from November 20 through December 30, 2026, running 5pm to 9pm. It is a walk-through holiday lights experience with animal-inspired light displays, five light tunnels, live entertainment, animal encounters, and carousel rides. The event is held rain or shine, and it is closed on Thanksgiving (November 26), Christmas Eve (December 24), and Christmas Day (December 25). All guests, including Yearly Members, must purchase tickets, so book ahead on the zoo's website.

For a drive-through version, the Holiday Light Show at Shady Brook Farm in Yardley, PA is a nearby trip from Montgomery County. The show features more than 4 million lights synced to a radio station, with open-air wagon rides as an option. In recent seasons it has run nightly from late November into January, 5pm to 10pm Sunday through Thursday and 5pm to 11pm Friday and Saturday, closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. The farm announces its new-season dates in the fall, so check shadybrookfarm.com before planning the drive.

Tree lightings and holiday markets in Carmella's towns round out the season:

• Plymouth Meeting: Plymouth Township's Holiday Tree Lighting at 6pm at the Service & Devotion Monument, 2903 Walton Road.
• Conshohocken: the Christmas tree lighting at Mary Wood Park (130 East 5th Avenue), hosted by Conshohocken AMBUCS, at 6pm on the Friday after Thanksgiving in recent years (in 2026, that is November 27), with music, a reading of The Night Before Christmas, and a visit from Santa.
• Ambler: the Main Street Holiday Tree Lighting at First Presbyterian Church (4 South Ridge Avenue), historically the Friday after Thanksgiving at 5pm, followed by the Ambler Main Street Holiday Parade on Butler Avenue the first Saturday of December.
• Lansdale: the borough's Holiday Tree Lighting in Railroad Plaza on Main Street, early December around 6pm, with Santa arriving by bucket truck.
• King of Prussia: Winterfest at King of Prussia Town Center, an annual free celebration with holiday crafts, live music, and children's activities.
• Norristown: the Winter Holiday Fair, a downtown festival in December with carnival rides and games, free ice skating, food trucks, and a vendor village.
• Upper Gwynedd: a Holiday Lights community event at the Township Administration Building (1 Parkside Place) in past years.

Exact dates for many of these are announced a few weeks ahead, so check each town's website or the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board's holiday guide for the current calendar.

When Is the Narberth Dickens Festival?

The Narberth Dickens Festival takes over downtown Narberth on Sunday, December 6, 2026, from noon to 4pm. Hosted by the Narberth Business Association, the free event turns the borough into 1840s London, with Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim roaming the streets alongside carolers, period-costumed performers, dancers, musicians, and puppet shows. There are holiday crafts, a free Dickens-themed scavenger hunt for children, hot cocoa, and period-inspired vendors and street food. Narberth is a short drive from most of Montgomery County, and the festival is one of the region's favorite December traditions.

"Fall and the holidays are when Montgomery County really shows off," says Carmella. "October is for pumpkins and hayrides, and by mid-November the lights go up. There is a rhythm to the season here, and it never gets old."

How Do You Plan a Fall and Holiday Weekend Around Montgomery County?

Here is a quick-pick version of the season:

• October weekends: Boo at the Zoo in Norristown, pumpkin picking at Merrymead Farm or Northern Star Farm, and the Autumn Festival in North Wales on October 17.
• Late November: Wild Lights opens at Elmwood Park Zoo, tree lightings light up Plymouth Meeting, Conshohocken, and Ambler, and the Holiday Light Show at Shady Brook Farm starts its drive-through season.
• December: the Narberth Dickens Festival on December 6, more Wild Lights evenings, and the Norristown Winter Holiday Fair.

If the season gets you thinking about a move, Carmella would love to help you find the right town and the right home. Call or text her mobile at 610-457-8698.