Lampeter United Methodist Church (UMC) will host its sixth annual fall festival on Saturday, Oct. 17, from noon to 3 p.m. at the church, 1101 Village Road, Lancaster.

The event promises to provide an afternoon of free fun, food and fellowship.

"The whole event is free," said Sarah Short, the church's communications director. "We have a bunch of fall-themed games."

The event started following 2020 when Short and her mom, Mary Martz, a longtime member of the church, felt called to expand the church's children's ministry. The fall festival is a byproduct of that calling.

"My mom's been a member here for 40 years," Short said. "I grew up there. At the time, I had a young son, and I felt called to join the children's ministry. And we started this fall fest just for a fun event geared towards kids and young families in the community."

Chips donated by Herr's, hot dogs, popcorn, a coffee station, hot chocolate, bottled waters, apple cider and cookies are on the extensive menu of free food and drink at the event.

Sticking with the fall theme, there will be plenty of autumn-oriented games set up on the church's lawn, including a bounce house, pumpkin golf, autumn bingo, pumpkin ring toss, football toss, apple toss, beanbag throw and more. The festival will be held rain or shine; festivities will be moved indoors in the event of inclement weather.

"When everybody enters the fall fest, we give them this stamp card," Short said. "Once they complete a game, they get a stamp in that game box. Then, they can hand that stamp card in at the end and get a prize and a treat back."

A new highlight for this year's event will be face painting. There will also be fall-themed crafts and pumpkin decorating with pumpkins donated by Cherry Crest. "We make a little pumpkin patch, and the kids can go pick their pumpkin and decorate it at the pumpkin decorating tables," Short explained.

While the event is completely free, guests are invited to bring a nonperishable food item to support the church's in-house Blessings Food Pantry, which supports families in the Lampeter-Strasburg and Penn Manor school districts. The pantry is open from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays, as well as the first and third Saturday of every month. No appointment is needed to visit the pantry, which is also open from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays.

Short said that around 300 to 500 people typically attend the fall festival.

The fall festival is one of the church's signature family events, along with its Christmas program, Easter egg hunt and vacation Bible school in the summer. Junior church is offered during the 10:30 a.m. service on Sundays for elementary students; kids' club for elementary students is held from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month.

More information about the church and its programming can be found by visiting http://www.lampeterumc.com or by calling 717-464-4161.