Fall Festival Attractions Near Chicago

Here’s the deal. We figured it couldn’t hurt to remind everybody about the bread and butter of our pumpkin farm, its fall festival attractions. After all, this is the biggest and best year of our 37 year existence. It’s amazing to think that we’ve been having our pumpkin patch every single year for over a quarter century, with no signs of stopping yet. Every year we’ve done our best to have a blend of the classic attractions and rides while still working to improve the overall experience at our pumpkin festival.

Cleanliness

Before we get carried away and tell you about all of the attractions that we have (including some new ones this year), one of the most unique qualities of our pumpkin farm near Chicago is the fact that we make an effort to keep our Homer Glen farm patch as clean as possible. Look, we’ve all been to a carnival, fair, or maybe even a park where there are dumpsters and trashcans overflowing with trash. Sometimes it gets to the extent where you feel gross just walking around the facilities, what with all of the refuse strewn about by the wind and a lack of care by a staff.

Contrast that unpleasant vision with what we have here at Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm. We have a dedicated staff of individuals who take pride in working at our Chicago pumpkin patch. Every person understands it’s a special place to work, and that is a huge reason that we are able to provide a clean pumpkin farm every year, despite the fact that a lot of people come through and visit us each and every day.

Although we did already post this glowing review from Trip Advisor, we thought it might be a good idea to highlight it once more, since it makes our point so well.

“This was our first time at Bengtson’s. We brought our 5 yr old grandchild and we all had a very fun day. It’s well organized and kept clean throughout the day (no overfull/overflowing garbage cans). It was a little expensive but what isn’t these days. Compliments to the people working the fest. All were very friendly with smiles and that can make your visit all that more pleasurable.” Paul R – 9/30/17

When you hear this kind of thing from our customers, you know we aren’t just blowing smoke. Take a look at some of our other reviews, and you’ll find that people make coming to Bengtson’s Pumpkin Fest an annual fall tradition. That means, at a bare minimum, that people like it enough to keep coming back. If you comb through a few of our reviews, you’ll soon fine that people don’t just moderately enjoy coming here, they absolutely love it. We think keeping up the facilities is a big contributor to people’s satisfaction.

Fall Festival Attractions

The Barnyard Dance Cow Coaster

Let’s start with a bang, let’s start with a big one. Let’s start with the Barnyard Dance Cow Coaster. It’s great for people of almost any age, and it’s the newest addition to our lineup of rides at Bengtson’s. Kids find it exciting as they get to move fast in one of the spinning cows. Plus, it’s a gentle and smooth ride, so even the grandparents can enjoy it with their grandkids!

Free Selfie Booth

The selfie booth is great, and not just for teenagers, either. First of all, it’s a great way to keep track of how your family has grown throughout the years. One idea we mentioned in a previous post was to try to have everyone in the same position (and wearing the same outfit, if possible) so you can create a time-lapse effect as you keep coming back every year!

Tractor Pulled Hayrack Rides

The hayrides run throughout the course of each day, and they are a great chance to get outside the hustle and bustle of running from ride to ride, so you can get a feel for the pumpkin farm and the outdoors a bit more. Plus, you’ll get a great view of pumpkins being launched a quarter mile away by the Pumpkin Chucker, which we will be highlighting it just a moment!

Gemstone And Arrowhead Mining Sluice

Choose between a gemstone mix from the abandoned bountiful Bengtson Burrows, the Archaeological Arrowhead mining bag, or the Emerald Strike mining bag. Each have their own appeal, but whichever you choose, you’ll be sure to experience the RUSH that Americans of old felt when they were panning for gold back in the day. The water flows down from the water tower and into a trough where you can pan for gems and arrowheads. It’s always a kid favorite, so be sure to check it out!

Pony Rides

Speaking of kid favorites, this one is sure to make pretty much every child who wants to ride a pony squeal with delight. It’s just $5 per pony ride, but keep in mind that there is an 80lb weight limit for all pony riders. Sorry, these are ponies, guys, not horsies. But on the plus side, you get to walk right next to your little tike and they can hold on to you for support, in case they get a little nervous!

Chicago Pumpkin Patch

If you’ve been searching for a “pumpkin patch near me”, you’re search has ended, because we have a huge selection of great pumpkins of all kinds. We’ve got orange pumpkins, white pumpkins, little pumpkins, big pumpkins, pie pumpkins, funky pumpkins, and more. We’ve even got tips on how to carve them, what you can make with pumpkins, and more! Be sure to check out our amazing pumpkin patch if you come to visit us this 2017 season.

Bengtson’s Kid Village

We’ve got a “Kids Jail”, we’ve got a little fire station, a little school house, and more. It’s a great photo opportunity for the little ones because their faces light up when they realize they can go inside each kiddie building! You can find Bengtson’s Kid Village right next to the hayrides.

Fun Barn

The Fun Barn is a crowd favorite for people of any age, especially if there’s a little guy or girl in question who might not be emotionally prepared for The Haunted Barn yet! Go through the awesome FUN BARN and have a great, fear-free time!

The Barnyard Animals Petting Zoo

Thinking about visiting all of our adorable animals at our petting zoo? Good! You absolutely should, but keep in mind that we have a couple different places you can see them. You can see the Baby Farm Animals in the Animal Barn, and then visit the Pig Pen and the Goat House for…you could probably guess. Keep in mind we also have PIG RACES 10 times a day, which is always great for a laugh, for viewers young and old!

Visit Bengtson’s For Pumpkin Farm Attractions Near Chicago

It looks like we ran out of time today to highlight every single ride and attraction that we have to offer here at Bengtson’s Pumpkin Fest in 2017. Keep reading for the next section highlighting our rides. Or, you could poke around our site yourself if you are really interested and can’t wait a couple of days. Or, here’s another idea, and bear with us, because it’s crazy. You could just come out to Bengtson’s and see all of our rides, attractions, and great food for yourself.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this initial look into our attractions (along with a brief mention of our commitment to cleanliness, which we take very seriously). In the second section, we’ll feature our Pumpkin Chucker, some kiddie rides, a 90’ Mega Fun Slide, and much more! We close on October 30th, so make sure you get out here before it’s too late! We would love to have ya!  Keep reading!

We are located in Homer Glen, Illinois, and have been open for 37 years now! In our previous post, we also took the time to highlight our lineup of attractions. We always try to improve what we have going on here, and this year we are able to offer a bunch of new rides and attractions! One of them we already mentioned, and it’s the Barnyard Dance Cow Coaster, a brand new kiddie roller coaster that is suitable for almost any age or size!

Our Fall Festival Reviews

“Best Pumpkin farm around.  Even if it is a rainy day the farm is a fun place to be.  So many fun rides, lovely petting zoo, so many cute attractions.  This farm is kept up and it is so clean.  Even when it is crowded you can still do so many things and there is plenty of room to sit and have a good snack with your group.  Music plays and the witch cackles, the train bell rings, just puts you in the fall mood.  Make sure you bring a camera, as there are so many photo opportunities.  This is just a fun family event.” – Mary Arnold

Thanks, Mary, for taking the time to let us know how your time was at our fall festival! We’ve mentioned this before, but your observation about the general cleanliness of our pumpkin farm is greatly appreciated. From top to bottom of our staff, we make a point to do the little things the right way so that everyone can have the best time possible. We are also thrilled you enjoyed the food, and the rest of the fall festival activities and attractions we’ve got going on this year at Bengtson’s!

But we digress, as it’s time to discuss other rides and attractions we have on offer this year at our pumpkin farm. Let’s start with one of the older kids’ favorites, the PUMPKIN CHUCKER.

The Pumpkin Chucker

While we have a wide variety of pumpkin farm attractions here at Bengtson’s, there is only one pumpkin chucker that is able to launch a massive, fully grown pumpkin around 2,000 feet. That’s over a quarter-mile, in case you are interested. We also have a Pumpkin Launcher, which is more similar to a catapult than anything else. You can find the launcher and the chucker at the south end of the farm. Make sure you check it out while you are getting a Hayrack Ride, because it’s one of the best vantage points on the entire Homer Glen pumpkin farm!

Haunted Barn

Ahh, the dreaded Haunted Barn. You aren’t even allowed to enter if you are under 12 and don’t have an adult with you. But for all the parents out there, this Haunted Barn is just moderately spooky, and everything is in the spirit of Halloween. You can find our version of a haunted house directly west of the Kettle Corn Building (yes, we have an entire building devoted to Kettle Corn, that’s how much we love the homemade treat).

Pig Races At Bengtson’s

Who doesn’t want to watch a bunch of pigs racing around a cute little track between 9 and 11 times each day? The first race starts on noon on every day besides Fridays and weekends. Families love getting a load of these little pork chops snorting their way around the track in search of victory. Make some bets with your family about who the prize champion pig will be! Oh, and make sure you get a load of the pre-formance, The Prarie Dogs, who perform up to 10 times each day just before the pig races!

Jimmy Cracked Corn Box

You won’t be able to find this attraction anywhere else. We have two giant corn boxes that we’ve essentially converted into sandboxes. They can hold up to 56,000 lbs of corn, which is 1,000 bushels. Kids (and some adults) love to play around in the corn, making designs, splashing around, and you might even spot a corn angel or two! Check out the video by clicking on the link above.

The Milking Cows

This is a special attraction here at Bengtson’s Pumpkin Fest. Come check out Elsie and Bessie, the amazing life-size milking cows. You can even simulate the actual process of milking a cow with Elsie and Bessie, which some adults enjoy doing in addition to the kiddos. Elsie and Bessie were made in Nebraska by hand, so they are worth checking out!

Twirling Honey Pots

We love our Twirling Honey Pots here at Bengtson’s. It’s one of most popular kiddie rides among our lineup of fall festival attractions. The best part about this ride is that you can control how fast or slow you want to go, as well as which direction you go! The ride itself is comprised of six individual honey pots, sitting on a big spinning platform. Bigger kids love being the driver!

90’ Mega Fun Slide

If your family is six members or less, you are in luck, because you can all slide down (and maybe even race each other) at the same time on our 90’ Mega Fun Slide! 90’ is no joke, it’s actually pretty high up there, so that means even the teenagers can get behind this one and try it at least once. They may not show their enjoyment at first, but if you pry it out of them, we are pretty sure you’ll be able to get one smile, at the least.

The Happy Swing

Among our lineup of autumn festival attractions and rides is the Happy Swing. First of all, you should know that the minimum height requirement is 36” tall. We introduced this in the 2014 season, and because it was such a hit, we’ve decided to keep it going! It’s one of our UNLIMITED fun rides, and the ride sits six across. Make sure you check it out!

Flying Frogs Ride

While we are talking about kiddie rides, allow us to highlight one that the wee ones go absolutely crazy for. You can plop yourself down inside one of six huge frogs, and then buckle up for a wild bouncing experience. You can find it right next to the Honey Pots, just south of the straw tunnel. Throw your hands up and scream when you are bouncing like a frog!

Train Rides

What’s more fun than getting on a kiddie train with your little boy or girl, or maybe a grandchild? The train rides are without a doubt our most popular kiddie rides of all, especially because we now have two different train options! Choose from the Hootenanny Railroad or the Clickety Clack Railroad, which was introduced in 2016. On the Hootenanny Railroad, you get a feel for the grounds by getting an easy-going tour of the pumpkin farm and patch. And we are serious about how much the kiddos love it, for those of you who haven’t taken your kids on one of our train rides yet. They’ll be talking about it for the rest of the day, we are fairly sure!

The Frog Hopper

Last among our lengthy list of our near Chicago fall festival attractions is the Frog Hopper. Thought you had your fill of frog rides? Think again, because the Frog Hopper is another must-ride. The hopper rises high, really high, above the farm. Then suddenly, it comes down without warning. It gives even the bigger kids a rush, and you might even be able to hear one or two shrieks from the excitement.

Check Out Our Family Fall Festival

We are one of Illinois’ top pumpkin festivals for a reason – actually, a lot of reasons. And many of them were listed above. Located at 13341 W 151st St Homer Glen, Illinois 60491, we are a very short drive away from Chicago and the surrounding area. So even if you are in Naperville, Aurora, Gary, Evanston, or maybe even Bloomington, you should come see us before our last day of the year on October 30th!

We will leave you with a testimonial from a Local Guide (Level 5), Colleen Bailey.

“This place fills your senses with all things October”

“Apple cider. Crisp red leaves. Cozy sweaters. Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm. Must-haves for a perfect fall in Illinois. I’ve been coming to Bengtson’s since I was of a single-digit age and I’m always amazed at how much is still around from those days gone by. Walking through the gates is like stepping into a perfectly preserved childhood memory. From the scent of caramel corn to the cackling witch on her broomstick and bright orange pumpkins everywhere you turn, this place fills your senses with all things October. Bring your kids to Bengtson’s so they can create fall memories they can revisit every year. ”

You put it well, in much fewer words, than we ever could, Colleen. That’s probably why you are a Level 5! We appreciate you taking the time to let everyone know how special our autumn festival can be. If you are interested in a fall festival that knows how to blend the modern with classic American fall carnival traditions, come see us at Bengtson’s Pumpkin Fest.