Waterford Harvest Fest Brings Pumpkins, Trucks, a Farmers Market and Live Music to the Beach

Waterford Harvest Fest Brings Pumpkins, Trucks, a Farmers Market and Live Music to the Beach on Saturday, Oct. 10, as Waterford Beach Park becomes the setting for four hours of fall activities, local vendors, food and music along Long Island Sound.

Waterford Recreation & Parks is bringing back the town’s Harvest Fest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a program designed to work as both a family outing and a community fall gathering. Pumpkin decorating and Touch-a-Truck share the grounds with a farmers market, craft vendors, food vendors, games, contests and interactive activities.

The festival also brings together two things Waterford residents already know well: the town’s seasonal farmers market and its tradition of free outdoor concerts. The Harvest Fest farmers market is a separate component of the festival and does not replace the regularly scheduled Waterford Farmers Market at the Community Center on Rope Ferry Road.

Pumpkins, Big Trucks and Hands-On Activities

The first two hours put much of the emphasis on younger visitors.

Pumpkin decorating and Touch-a-Truck run from 10 a.m. to noon, giving children a chance to do a little fall decorating and get an up-close look at vehicles they normally see working around town.

Waterford is expanding the hands-on side of the day with safety exhibitions and helmet giveaways, along with games, contests and interactive displays throughout the festival grounds.

The farmers market and craft vendors add another dimension. Rather than building the event around a single attraction, Harvest Fest is structured as the kind of fall afternoon where families can move between activities, browse local vendors, find something to eat and stay for the music.

Three57 Takes Over at Noon

At noon, the focus shifts toward lunch and live music as food trucks join the festival and Three57 performs through 2 p.m.

Three57 is a southeastern Connecticut cover band with years of experience playing community celebrations, summer concert series, campgrounds, clubs and private events around the region.

The group includes vocalist Shailyn Metcalfe, a Norwich Free Academy graduate whose musical background reaches back to her school years. Metcalfe has continued performing as an adult and was selected to sing the national anthem at Goodwin University’s 2025 commencement.

Three57 has also been part of the area’s outdoor concert circuit, including an appearance in East Lyme’s McCook Summer Beach Concert Series. That experience makes the band a natural fit for Harvest Fest: music intended for a broad community crowd rather than a sit-down concert audience.

The band’s history also includes a connection to one of the enduring songs of the doo-wop era. Guitarist and songwriter Noel Gibilaro has performed with Three57, and his musical biography credits the group with backing Fred Parris and The Satins, the group behind the 1950s classic In the Still of the Night.

For Harvest Fest, Three57 provides the soundtrack for the final two hours while food trucks serve lunch and the rest of the festival continues around them.

A Farmers Market Within the Festival

Harvest Fest includes its own farmers market at Waterford Beach Park, adding local produce and market vendors to the day’s mix of craft and food sellers.

It should not be confused with Waterford’s regular seasonal farmers market at the Waterford Community Center, 24 Rope Ferry Road. Harvest Fest is adding a farmers market to the beach celebration rather than moving or replacing the regular Saturday market.

That distinction gives shoppers an unusually market-heavy Saturday in Waterford while making the Harvest Fest version only one piece of a much larger event.

Fall Takes Over Waterford Beach

The location may be the biggest departure from the usual fall-festival setting.

Instead of a fairground or parking lot, Harvest Fest unfolds at Waterford Beach Park, where the town’s shoreline and views across Long Island Sound provide the backdrop.

The beach is one of Waterford’s major warm-weather gathering places, hosting recreational programs and summer concerts. By October, its character has changed. Beach season has given way to cooler air and fall foliage, but the open waterfront remains.

Harvest Fest puts that space back to work for one more large community gathering before the colder part of the year arrives.

Visitors can make a morning of pumpkins, trucks and activities, come later for food and Three57, or spend the entire four hours wandering between the market, vendors, activities and music.

More information is available at the Event Website link below.

Details

Event: Waterford Harvest Fest
Date: Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026
Time: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Location: Waterford Beach Park
Address: 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford, CT 06385
Admission: Free
Pumpkin Decorating & Touch-a-Truck: 10 a.m.–noon
Live Music: Three57, noon–2 p.m.
Food Trucks: Noon–2 p.m.
Other Activities: Farmers market, craft vendors, food vendors, safety exhibitions, helmet giveaways, games, contests and interactive displays
Audience: Families and all ages
Information: Waterford Recreation & Parks, 860-444-5881

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.