WORTH THE DRIVE: Headless Horsemen Festival and more intriguing fall events await in Indianapolis

Guests at the Headless Horseman Festival at Connor Prairie, located outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, and open through the end of October.

Credit: Visit Indy

Credit: Visit Indy

Guests at the Headless Horseman Festival at Connor Prairie, located outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, and open through the end of October. CONTRIBUTED.

While Dayton may boast a handful of festivals and events that celebrate every aspect of autumn, those looking for something new to do before the end of the fall season should venture to Indianapolis.

Through Oct. 31, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the largest children’s museum in the world, will offer guests a chance to experience the 57th Annual Frightful Frontier. During this family-friendly scare, guests will board the last train to Tombtown, where they will encounter a variety of goblins and monsters in the Wicked Wild West.

Lights-on hours will be available for those with younger children on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and on Halloween Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The lights-on experience will include upbeat music, people in Halloween costumes passing out candy and immersive Halloween-related activities.

The Frightful Frontier also has Frightening Hours, which include spookier music, minimal lighting and “Haunters” that hide throughout the place to jump and scare visitors. The Frightening Hours take place from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays.

Tickets to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis’ Frightful Frontier are $9 per person can be purchased by visiting the museum’s website.

If you’re looking for an Instagram-worthy Halloween moment, look no further than Harvest Nights and Harvest Days at Newfields in Indianapolis. From now through Oct. 31, the art museum and nature center will host a ticketed event, called Harvest Nights, featuring thousands of glowing pumpkins along an outdoor walking path that winds through an enchanted forest of sorts. The spooky destination also features an eerie ghost train and a “grand finale” lights show at Mischief Manor on the Lilly Allee, where guests can indulge in fall beverages and light snacks.

Harvest Nights at Newfields Art Museum in Indianapolis, which takes place through the end of October.

Credit: Visit Indy

icon to expand image

Credit: Visit Indy

Harvest Days will also include thousands of pumpkins, horticulture displays, art-making activities for children, beer, local vendors and more.

Admission to Harvest Nights is $25 per adult, $17 per child between the ages of six and 17 and children five years of age and younger get in for free. Admission to Harvest Days is included with general admission to Newfields, or is $18 per adult, $10 per child between six and 17 and children five years of age and younger get in for free. Museum members have free admission as well.

More information about Harvest Days and Harvest Nights at Newfields can be found by visiting the museum’s website.

Harvest Days at Newfields Art Museum in Indianapolis, which runs through the end of October.

Credit: Visit Indy

icon to expand image

Credit: Visit Indy

Connor Prairie, a living history museum in Hamilton County, Indiana, has been transformed into Connor Scairie as it hosts its annual Headless Horseman Festival. Through Oct. 30, the festival, which will be held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursdays through Sundays, features a haunted hayride through the prairie, barrel train rides for children, spooky shows and storytelling ventures (such as a live performance of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”), carnival rides and games, fortune-telling, a live DJ and food.

Tickets to the Headless Horseman Festival are $24 per person on Fridays and Saturdays and $19 per person on Thursdays and Sundays. Connor Prairie members get into the festival for free on Thursdays and Sundays.

To find out more information about the event or to purchase tickets, pay a visit to Connor’s Prairie’s website.

About the Author