The family-friendly, Halloween-themed event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Tickets are available from church members, at the church office and at Balloons Aloft, 704 E. Church St. in Sandwich.

New this year is the Mary M. Ratos Memorial 5K & Fun Run planned for Oct. 1. The race starts at 4 p.m. at the new Riverfront Park East.

The Illinois Storytelling Festival returns Saturday as the Spring Grove Storytelling Festival, bringing back a long-time event that once brought up to 2,500 people to the community.

Here are some pumpkin patches, farms and festivals you might like to visit throughout northern Illinois

The Kiwanis Club of Yorkville will host its fifth annual Yorktoberfest Friday, Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1, at Riverfront Park East in downtown Yorkville. Friday events will run from 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday’s hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

All are invited to join the festivities of the traditional German celebration of Oktoberfest with a Yorkville twist.

Mid-September signals the beginning of fall and pumpkin season. Whether it’s used to flavor your coffee, fill your pie or carved and placed on a doorstep, there’s no denying the pumpkin is the star of the season.

The Von Bergen family started doing a you-pick pumpkin patch near Hebron when Mike Von Bergen was nine years old.