Celebrate nature's harvests at fall festivals this weekend
• Bring your family and friends out to Oakhurst Forest Preserve, 1650 Fifth Ave. in Aurora, on Sunday, Oct. 4, where you can celebrate the beginning of fall during the "Harvest of the Acorn Moon" festival from 1 to 4 p.m.
It is the most popular nature program for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.
The prairie has turned golden, the forest trees are laden with fruit, and nature's bounty is harvested by wildlife and humans alike. Celebrate the harvest season at the fall festival.
There are family-friendly activities for all ages. There will be pumpkin painting, games, guided nature hikes, nature crafts, folk music, and much more. There is no admission fee, however, nominal fees for crafts and refreshments apply. No registration is required.
For more information, call (630) 232-5980 or visit www.kaneforest.com.
• Stop by the Heirloom Apple Fest from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at Durant House Museum, which is located in the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve, 37W370 Dean St., St. Charles. Costumed guides demonstrate using a pioneer apple drying basket, and serve an array of 19th-century fare. Visitors can sample a variety of rare apples not available at supermarkets. Sip savory ciders prepared in an 1840s hearth and a Victorian wood-burning stove. Admission is $3, or $1 per child. For details, call (630) 377-6424 or visit ppfv.org.
• South Elgin will host its annual Pumpkin Patch and Fall Festival from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, in County Park. They will be serving brats, hot dogs, beer, soda and water. It is held after the Harvest Hustle 5K. There will be live entertainment following the race. Additional food and drinks are available for purchase by nonparticipants. For information, call (847) 622-0003 or visit www.southelgin.com.
• McHenry County Historical Society Museum will host its 38th annual Cider Fest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at the museum, 6422 Main St. in Union. Participate in an Apple Bake-Off, take home a variety of homemade apple treats and experience what is was like to attend classes in a one-room school. Or help with a barn raising starting at 11:30 a.m. and visit with costumed Civil War re-enactors from noon to 3 p.m. and listen to the sounds of Charlie B and Friends between 1 and 3 p.m. Throughout the day there will be blacksmithing and cider-making demonstrations. Apple baked goods and kettle corn will be among the food items on sale. Rare books, antique clothing and hard-to-find items also will on sale during the Society's biannual white elephant sale. Registration for the first Apple Bake-off Contest begins at 9:30 a.m. with judging following at 10:30 a.m. Tour the museum, the Gannon 1843 log cabin and 1895 West Harmony one-room school. Admission is free. For details, call (815) 923-2267 or visit www.mchenrycountyhistory.org.
• Storyteller Reid Miller returns to the 34th annual Harvest Days from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at Garfield Farm Museum, 3N016 Garfield Road, Campton Hills. Donations are $6 or $3 for children under 12. For information, call (630) 584-8485 or visit www.garfieldfarm.org. Step back in time and discover life before modern technology with demonstrations of 1840s household and farm skills. Tours of the 1846 brick inn will be ongoing. A bake sale will be held. Learn about spinning wool or rendering of tallow for making candles, as well as the flailing and winnowing of wheat, shocking and husking of corn. See the museum's farm animals, including mostly rare heritage breeds of chickens, turkeys, sheep, hogs, and oxen. Tours of the museum's prairie reconnect visitors to nature and its resilience, as the last prairie flowers bloom and go to seed.