Pumpkin patch in Frankfurt area?

Hello! We are trying to find a pumpkin patch in the Frankfurt area to take a group of children to. Does anyone know of any? We would love it if we could actually find a place that has that whole "autumn in the northeast" type feel, with cider, apple picking, pumpkins, etc., but really we'd be happy with any of the aforementioned. Thanks

Not in Frankfurt area, but just about do-able as a day trip (google maps reckons a bit under 2 hours drive form Frankfurt)

http://www.blueba.de/Veranstaltungen/Kuerbis/kuerbis.html

http://www.blueba.de/Veranstaltungen/Kuerbis/Kuerbisbilder_2007/kuerbisbilder_2007.html

No need to drive that far; there's a big pumpkin patch near Oberursel/Steinbach, which I think may be part of a corn maze as well.

Google around; I'm running to catch a train, but would otherwise find a link for you.

Thanks, clickety6. That looks awesome! Oh, and expaticus, if you find a link, please let me know. Thanks!

There's a [url=http://www.feuerwehr-niederkleen.de/Bilder/minikuerbis08.htm]Kürbishof Müller south of Giessen, homepage is [url=http://www.kuerbishof-mueller.de/component/content/frontpage.html]here.

I started googling around too, as I wanted to write something for my city guide. Found this website and guess what, they are having a fest this weekend in Nauheim, so not too far away. What is funny for me is that where I come from, we have a huge pumpkin festival every year - the Circleville Pumpkin Show. The whole town is all about punkins all the time. Event he water tower is painted to look like a pumpkin. So, I might just go to this show this weekend. Looks like you can go out and your favorite fruit there too, as well as gourds, corn, etc.

http://www.goldgrund.de/index.htm

Any new ideas on places to go? It seems the 2 closest to FRA had their events in September and I am still hopeful of getting out with my daughter this weekend or next (Oct 17th or 24th). Also, any recommendations on kid-friendly (sie ist 6) Halloween fun? Thanks!

The Harvest events are over, but you can still go out and pick pumpkins on the farms.

Where you able to go to the Harvest Fest at the Hauptwache last week? There were so many kids there enjoying the animals!

The Palmengarten might be nice.

Take a look at Hessen Park as they have a lot of harvest activities. Burg Frankenstein has parties for kids, so look on their website, though they might have to be 8.

For future reference, the Bad Homburg Erntendankfest was this past Sunday. We didn't go this year as we were otherwise engaged, but have in prior years and it's quite a nice little fall fest. One of the resaons we didn't go is that this is the first year we've grown decent pumpkins of our own!

I know that the FIS parent teachers group organizes an annual "trunk-or-treat" party every year. I think it's on the 25th this year. Non-students have been welcome in previous years, but the deal is that you need to bring candy. probably easiest to buddy up with an FIS family who's already bringing a car, or just give the school a call and ask.

Something that might be interesting is the Senckenberg museum is doing "nachts in Senckenberg" for families with kids, where you walk around with a flashlight. They do this once a month, but for Oct. looks like it might be a bit "special" with a halloween theme. 19:00 and 20:30
They offer this a bit later in the evenings for couples too, and it includes a glass of sekt. How romantic! A night in the museum. 22:00

There are a few more markets on -

Limburg Oktoberfest 16-20 Oct.

Gallus Market in Hofheim am Taunus 16-20 Oct.

Kalter Markt in Ortenberg 23-27 Oct.

689th Catherine Festival in Butzbach 24-27 Oct.

St. Martins Market, Festplatz in Nidda 31 Oct.-2 Nov.

Thanks MD and Expat - knew you two would come through!

Here is the scoop on Halloween at Burg Frankenstein, taken from my CityGuide blog:

Perhaps you are thinking that it is a tad early to be writing about Halloween, or perhaps you thought this was a holiday that would slip past you while in Germany. NO, NO, NO! Halloween at Burg Frankenstein near Darmstadt & Eberstadt, is quite a popular place to be, especially on the nights of the 31st or the 30th. You do need tickets though, and since I imagine they sell out quickly for those nights, I decided to let you know about it now. Celebrating Halloween here for the past 33 years, used to be highly popular with the 1000's of American troops that were once stationed all around the Rhein-Main area. Many of the bases are closed now, but there are still enough around to make this a fun multi-culti event, with a lot of German participation.

Burg Frankenstein is an old castle ruin, but it sits on top of a hill/mountain with a great overlook. Surrounded by forests, it becomes the ideal place for a haunted evening. For those of you who like the chills and thrills of this kind of thing, this is a perfect place to experience letting your screams out. Monsters, Ghouls, Vampires and Were Wolves populate the forest as well as the castle itself. If you are traveling with teens, it is an easy decision to visit here for Halloween. The coolness factor of them being able to go back home and tell their friends they were in the "Real" Frankenstein Castle and how scary it was, will certainly earn you a few brownie points in the "best parents" contest.

The show runs from 23 Oct. to 8 Nov. beginning at 20:00 until 23:00 or midnight depending on the day of the week. Tickets range from 18-20 € and on the 30th and 31st they cost 22 €. There is also a VIP ticket for 40-46 €, that offers a Halloween buffet, no waiting in line to get in, a VIP Vampire bar with appropriate cocktails. There are also some scary dinners, though all in German, this might be fun anyway. The link has this info in German, so not as easy to figure out if you are interested in participating. Do be aware that children need to be 14 and older to attend the evening "festivities".

If you have smaller children, but still would like to visit here during the Halloween season, they also offer children's afternoons on Sundays from 15:00- 19:00, that are not so scary. Price is 9 € per person and children need to be 7 and older.

If you are here at times other than Halloween, you can still visit the ruins as Burg Frankenstein is open all year round. There is also a cafe with an outside terrace and a very pretty view, just a short stroll away from the castle.
www.frankenstein-halloween.de/english/