Now that summer is out of the way, it’s time to start looking toward the fall. And in church world that frequently means you’re doing some kind of fall festival. These events are great for bringing guests to your church campus, while also serving the community.

Originally, these festivals were designed to be a safe place just for church people to participate in Halloween without having to go out into the community. While they still serve this purpose, they can also be one of the biggest outreaches of the year, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money.

I’ve planned as many of these as I have VBSs, and Egg Hunts and I’ve learned a thing or two about how to make them great.

Before you start planning, you need to determine the goal of your event. Will it be “come and go” or “stay and play?”

What I mean is, do you want to do something like Trunk or Treat, where kids and families pick up candy from trunks and then leave? Or do you want a traditional Fall Festival where everyone stays and participates in multiple activities, like carnival games, inflatables, and competitions.

There’s nothing wrong with either one, and depending on your community, one may be better than the other. I’ve done both and while I prefer Trunk or Treats, I’ve seen the Fall Festivals be equally effective.

Regardless of which you choose here are

4 Next Level Ideas for Your Fall Festival.

1. Inflatables

Whether you’re doing a fall festival for a trunk or treat these are always a hit. They’re big, eye-catching, and most kids want to do them over and over again. Even if you have a small event, they can entertain your guests for a long time.

Whenever I order inflatables, I always go for slides and obstacle courses. Sure, bounce houses are fun, but they are rife with problems. Kids start to wrestle, bigger kids don’t look out for the little ones, and it’s difficult to get kids out of them in a timely manner.

Having a slide or obstacle course creates a defined beginning and end, and kids can always go back and do them again.

Make sure you staff these well with a person at the beginning and the end, minimum. If you have the extra personnel, someone in the middle of the course or the top of the slide helps keep kids safe and the line moving. Teenagers are great for the middle and end, but adults tend to do better at the beginning because they must control the line.

2. Volunteer-produced Games

One of the great parts of a fall festival is all the things there are to do. Hayrides, face painting, cake walks and so much more. Trunk or Treats however can be rather boring. A lot of people just show up in a parking lot, decorate their cars a little, and give out candy. Depending on the size of your event, a kid can do everything there is to do and be ready to go in less than 10 minutes.

This is why I suggest you have volunteer-produced games. You don’t have to come up with all the ideas for games, supply them, and then store them for a year. Your volunteers can do that, and may even be better than yours.

For my Trunk or Treats, I hold a competition for the best decorated vehicle and encourage all my cars to bring an activity for kids to do. During COVID, one volunteer brought a PVC pipe and slid the candy from their bowl to the kid’s bowl. Another set up a photo booth and made it look like there were in the house from Up. Another family went above and beyond and created their own Elvis Presly show complete with classic cars and an impersonator.

Some volunteers will struggle with ideas, so I always offer to help and even provide supplies for their cars. I want everyone to have fun, kids and volunteers. Fun will keep them coming back year after year. Let your volunteers be creative and see what they can do.

3. Food Trucks

Most likely your event is being held around dinner time. I’ve provided cheap food either for free or for $5 and it served us well. However, sometimes providing a meal takes away volunteers and parking lot space. If you’re short on either, you’ll need to come up with another option.

A few years back, I recruited some of my local food trucks out to my event. I charged them a small percentage of their sales (5%-10%) and gave them a prime spot at the end of my car line. This helps them advertise their business while you provide your guests with food without having to do any of the work. Plus, you get money back!

One of the first questions a food vendor will ask you is how many you plan to have there. There’s no way to know for sure, but you can give them a ballpark figure. They want to know whether it’s worth their time to come and how much food to bring. I try to be conservative in my estimate. I don’t want them planning for 1,000 people and only 500 shows up. They’ll lose money, and you’ll have trouble getting them or anyone else to come back. (They talk to each other)

If food trucks do come to your event, you can still say it’s free. But make sure in your advertisements, you talk about the trucks that are coming and link to their website/social media. When I choose the trucks, I make sure their menus are affordable. They can have $20 options, but I want to make sure they have $5 ones as well. It’ll help them sell more and keep my guests happy.

4. Prayer Tent

The difficult part of a fall festival and near impossible for a trunk or treat is the presentation of the Gospel. Many people in your congregation may even object to an event unless there is some kind of presentation.

While I believe that the Gospel should be preached at every opportunity, I don’t think we have to always do it with a stage, a mic, and everyone’s undivided attention. I think we can do it with a smile, a helping hand, and providing a safe place for your family on the scariest night of the year.

That said, a few years back, I added a prayer tent. I set it up next to my registration booth with a sign that said Prayer. I had one to two volunteers with the gift of intercession man it all night. I thought no one would come, but after the first year, I discovered just how wrong I was.

While they did have long stints of no activity, several people came to them with real needs. They were able to pray for those people and provide care in an otherwise purely fun event. I’ve incorporated it every year since.

4 ways to not do registration at your fall festival — Whether you decide to do a fall festival, a trunk or treat, or something else, make sure you collect their information. Otherwise, you just held a party and forgot to invite them back. I talk about how to do that here.

Fall festivals can be great for your church and your community. I’ve seen them become family traditions where they look forward to coming to your event year after year. Don’t be offended when the community acts like a community. Prepare your congregation and especially your volunteers for the possibility of witches, ghosts, and all manner of ghastly things. These are the people we’re trying to reach. We don’t want to turn them off from Jesus because they have vampire teeth.

When are you planning to do your Fall Festival? What do you do to make it fun and exciting?