The pumpkin patch (Photo; Queens County Farm Museum)
Oct. 5, 2021 By Allie Griffin
The Queens County Farm Museum is offering a variety of fun fall activities for Queens families this month ahead of Halloween.
Families visiting the farm can pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch; munch on apple pies, donuts, cider and the fruit itself; take a hayride around the farm; and find their way out of the city’s only corn maze.
Admission to the farm museum — one of the longest continually farmed sites, dating back to 1697 — is free except on ticketed, special event days. The farm is located at 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy. in Glen Oaks and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The public can enjoy hayrides pulled by a tractor around the farm’s 47 acres of land for $5 per person from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The rides are offered year-round but are especially noteworthy during the fall when visitors can see the changing colors of the trees on the acreage.
A hayride at Queens County Farm Museum (Queens County Farm Museum)
After a tour of the farm via hayride, visitors can find the perfect pumpkin to carve from the farm’s pumpkin patch, which is open daily until 4:30 p.m. through the end of October. Pumpkin prices vary by size, according to the farm website.
Next, visitors can go on an adventure by entering the city’s only corn maze, which is cut in the shape of Andy Warhol’s famous Cow screen print. The 3-acre “Amazing Maize Maze” celebrates Warhol’s pop art and challenges participants to find clues, solve puzzles and escape the maze to reach the farm’s Victory Bridge, where they can see the aerial view of Warhol’s Cow.
The maze is open Friday through Sunday until the end of the month.
For those seeking an added challenge, the maze is also open after the sun sets on three nights this month, Oct. 2, 23 and 28. The nighttime “Maze by Moonlight” is open from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
The Amazing Maize Maze (Photo: Queens County Farm Museum)
Tickets to both the daytime and night time corn maze events should be bought in advance online. Tickets for the daytime event are $12 for everyone 12 and up and $8 for children four to 11 years old. Tickets for “Maze by Moonlight” are $15 for everyone 12 and up and $10 for children four to 11 years old. Children under four are free to participate.
The Queens County Farm Museum finishes off the month of October with a Halloween spooktacular for families on Oct. 31 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Children and their parents are invited to wear their costumes to the farm to go trick-or-treating with the farm animals. Eight candy stations will be located throughout the farm so children can safely experience Halloween.
Attendees of the spooktacular event will also be able to escape the Amazing Maize Maze, hop on a hayride, brave the haunted farmhouse and make some Halloween crafts at the event. They will also be able to adopt a worm as part of the farm’s composting program and learn recycling tips.
A DJ will be playing tunes for ghouls and guys to dance to as well. Local food vendors will also be there to feed visitors.
Tickets are $20 per person and must be purchased online. The event is free to children ages three and younger.
