As of Saturday, September 14, Cox Farms in Centreville, VA, has officially reopened for the 2024 autumn harvest season, marked by the triumphant return of its famed Cox Farms Fall Festival. Often hailed as one of the grandest fall farm celebrations in the greater D.C./Northern Virginia region, the Cox Farms Fall Festival will run every week through the start of November.
Cox Farms was established back in 1972. As a privately operated, family-owned farm, they open to the public only at select times throughout the year. Yet they are available to host events and engagements onsite when booked privately. They also accommodate school and organization field trip outings and can serve as a party venue for milestone celebrations.
During the warmer weather months, Cox Farms operates its onsite Corner Market. These markets run between late April and the middle of August on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
On market days, visitors enjoy a host of featured follies, from homegrown plants and produce to smoked barbecue. They even line up live musical performances. Additionally, Cox Farms presents all those permanent property-based attractions they’ve become renowned for, primarily the menagerie of friendly farm animals you can visit! The critter cast of thousands includes resident guard llama Chewie, Equinox the alpaca, chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, sheep, goats, cows, and horses.
Yet it’s the Cox Farms Fall Festival presented each year that reigns supreme as their ultimate claim to fame callout on a regional level. Featured seasonally since 1985, these fan-favorite festival events provide visitors of all ages with a vast and versatile array of family-friendly activities to come out and enjoy just in time for the harvest season. Some of the anchoring attractions include various themed slides (each one unique), swings, an interactive Kiddie Zone, gemstone mining via Cox Mining Company, hands-on farm chore activities, a tractor museum setup, milking demos, Goat Village, the ever-popular Cornundrum corn maze, the Imaginature Trail, and so much more.
Their World-Famous Hayrides are still among the most contested rites of passage on a visit to Cox Farms. While the first hayride was offered here in 1979—predating the Cox Farms Fall Festival by several years, these rightly named “World-Famous Hayrides” have come a long way in their development. They now treat guests to 20-minute excursions aboard an antique tractor-pulled wagon, featuring a most unusual drive-by terrain laden with alien encounters, a jungle, an old west town, and even an enchanted barn.
Another highlight hit to behold is Foamhenge. A full-sized Styrofoam replica of Stonehenge, Foamhenge is the brainchild of artist Mark Cline, created in Enchanted Castle Studio back in 2004. Foamhenge has been a featured Cox Farms Fall Festival attraction since 2017.
In addition to all the onsite attractions, several other fun features are included with Cox Farms Fall Festival admission. Among these are live musical performances each day.
You’ll also be able to taste free apple product samplings from various regional orchards, like Marker Miller Orchards, Rinker Orchards, and even Hollabaugh Brothers, Inc. in Biglerville, PA.
Cox Farms Fall Festival is a beloved endeavor suitable for all ages. But there is another fall-fun offering held on the farm also—one of a more classically creepy nature. It’s their annual Fields of Fear presentation. Offered on Friday and Saturday evenings, this year’s event will run from September 20 to November 2 (and on Sunday, October 13). Gates open at 7:30 p.m. on Fields of Fear evenings and remain in full swing until 11 p.m. The last admission is at 10 p.m.
Fields of Fear features over 20 acres of spooky attractions and frightfully fun follies. Their iconic Darkside Hayride does well in doling out devious delights all around. Other attractions to die for include Cornightmare (haunted cornfields), Black Forest: Back 40, and the Firegrounds. Read more about these attractions and all other Fields of Fear-related specifics including ticketing information at the separate site link here.
Throughout the fall open season, the resident Festival Market will remain in operation daily between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., with extended hours (open until 11 p.m.) on Fields of Fear evenings. While both the Cox Farms Fall Festival and Fields of Fear require paid admission, the Market may be visited independently without paying to attend any concurring farm events.
Cox Farms Fall Festival operates Thursday through Monday until November 4, plus an additional day on Tuesday, November 5—their last day of operation for the harvest season. On these days they are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in October and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November dates. The last entry is one hour before closing time.
Cox Farms is located at 15621 Braddock Road, Centreville, VA 20120. Learn more about the farm, other seasonal events, and information regarding tickets and admission at www.coxfarmsva.com.