Fall Festival
Join us for our annual Fall Festival, starting on the last Saturday of September and continuing through Halloween!
Hard to believe but we’ve been welcoming visitors to our pumpkin patch for almost 40 years!
We want to make your Sunnyside experience one you’ll always remember. Each year, we create amazing one-of-a-kind displays and fill our patch with locally grown pumpkins of every shape and size. You’ll notice the intoxicating scent of freshly made cider donuts as soon as you step out of the car. And don’t forget our main attractions: our tractor-pulled hayrides and the area’s only ride-on train.
Our pumpkin patch is a true family experience.
We’re extremely proud that kids who visited us twenty years ago are now bringing their own kids and families to build new memories. Keep in mind, we cater to the family experience. You won’t find any gore, blood, or guts here. (Or at least nothing super scary!) We want to offer families an affordable day out, that’s why there’s no admission charge to get into the pumpkin patch. You only pay for the rides and activities in which you participate.
Pumpkin Patch & Activities
We fill our patch with the biggest and best pumpkins around so you find that perfect jack o’lantern. Come wander through and see what hay sculptures and scarecrows we’ve come up with this year.
Once you arrive at Sunnyside you’ll have to decide where you want to go first. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
• Take a hay ride through the spooky woods
• Have a ride on our little blue train
• Search for the perfect pumpkin in the patch
• Walk through the Hall of Flame-over 300 carved jack o’lanterns
• Dance along to our live bluegrass band
• Pose for a picture in one of our funny cut-outs
• Visit the monarch butterflies in our butterfly room
• Watch the model trains roll by
• Dig in to a delicious, homemade cider doughnut
Fall Mums & Flowers
Each summer thousands of chrysanthemum cuttings arrive at Sunnyside to be nurtured and grown into our famous “Monster Mums”. We’ve been growing mums for decades and we’re sure no one has bigger or better mums than us. Mums begin flowering in early September and continue flowering until hard frost (sometimes even to Thanksgiving!) We carry a hundred different mum varieties, each one prettier than the next. So stop by and pick one out for yourself… We dare you to try and leave with just one.
And don’t forget our other Fall flowers: Asters, Fall perennials (such as Sedums), and ornamental peppers!
Pumpkins & Squash
We are extremely proud to say that all our pumpkins, squash, corn, and hay come from New York farmers! We have thousands of pumpkins to choose from-come find the perfect one for your jack o’ lantern.
As well as regular carving pumpkins, we also carry a huge variety of squashes for both eating and decorating. You’ll find everything from popular acorn and butternut types to more unique varieties like striped Cushaw squash, huge Blue Hubbards, bright red-orange Rouge vif d’Etampes (aka Cinderella pumpkin), white Casper pumpkins, tasty Long Island Cheese pumpkins, elegant brown Fairytale pumpkins, and beautiful blue Jarrahdale pumpkins. These are only a few of the dozens of squash and pumpkin varieties we have.
Bakery & Cider Donuts
The moment you step out of your car, you’ll smell our homemade baked goods made fresh in our bakery each day. We don’t mean to brag (well…maybe just a little bit) but our cider donuts are legendary and people come from miles around just for them. They’re super light and fluffy and not at all greasy like donuts at some other places. But don’t take our word for it. Stop by and try one.
Live Music & Entertainment
To us here at Sunnyside, Fall is synonymous with Bluegrass music!
For the past 10 years, we’ve welcomed Adrenaline Pumpkin into our greenhouse to delight both customers and employees with their toe-tapping bluegrass tunes.
Adrenaline Pumpkin performs Saturdays 12pm-4pm.
On Saturdays, it's everyone's favorite autumnal pumpkin-spiced bluegrass group, Sunnyside's own house band, Adrenaline Pumpkin! Featuring 4-part harmonies, with John Kribs on guitar, Orion Kribs on mandolin, Arlin Greene on bass, and 1984 North American Banjo Champ, Christopher Leske!
On Sundays, we welcome Hale Mountain Band. The Hale Mountain Band, formerly known as the Hale Mtn Pickers, is a popular bluegrass band based out of Southern Vermont. Their rich harmony vocals encompass bluegrass, gospel, soft rock and a touch of Dead.
Hale Mountain Band performs Sundays 12pm-4pm.
Fall Field Trips
Sunnyside has been hosting school trips to our pumpkin patch for over twenty years! Schools have come from all over Upstate NY, Saratoga, Albany, and the Capital Region just to spend the day with us. Teachers love coming to Sunnyside because we combine safe, outdoor fun with education. Our butterfly house is a great educational experience as it coincides with students’ butterfly science unit. Students are able to see in action what they’ve read about in books.
• Fall Field Trips are available Monday-Friday to all elementary schools, registered day cares, and registered nursery schools.
• Minimum: 10 children
• Cost: $12 ($3 extra for cider + donut) for all students, chaperones, parents, and siblings.
• Price includes one hayride, one train ride, a small pie pumpkin, Halloween displays, pumpkin Hall-O-Flame, and butterfly house.
• Please make sure you have adequate supervision and chaperones for your children.