10 things to do in Michigan in October

October is here. It’s time for the thrills and chills of the Halloween season, plus wine tasting and fall harvests. Read on for 10 things to do in Michigan this month.

ArtPrize 2015

ArtPrize 2015 is on. The seventh annual event showcases more than 1,550 works of art in 162 locations throughout Grand Rapids.

ArtPrize will continue through Oct. 11, when the world’s largest art prize will be awarded.

For more information, and to help determine which artist will take home the $200,000 Public Vote Grand Prize, visit www.artprize.org.

Fenner Nature Center’s Apple Butter Festival

It’s apple butter time at Fenner Nature Center in Lansing. Fenner’s 42nd annual Apple Butter Festival is set for Oct. 10 and 11 with a crop of activities that celebrate all things apple butter. Attendees will have the chance to stir the apple butter, cooked the old-fashioned way in a copper kettle over a fire. Celebrity stirrers will be on hand to help make the magic happen.

For more information on this free festival, visit www.mynaturecenter.org/applebutterfestival.

Scarecrow Fest 2015

If you love scarecrows —and who doesn’t — then put the annual Scarecrow Fest on your radar. The event takes place Oct. 17, 18, 24 and 25 at Frankenmuth River Place Shops. Activities include pumpkin bowling, face and pumpkin painting, balloon sculptures, live entertainment and a costume parade and trick-or-treating on Oct. 25. Visitor will also be able to vote for their favorite among the scarecrows created by Frankenmuth businesses.

For more on Scarecrow Fest 2015, visit www.frankenmuthriverplace.com/scarecrow-fest.

Old Town Oktoberfest

Old Town Oktoberfest turns a decade old this year, and the festival is celebrating that milestone by paying tribute to all things German. The annual event – which offers beer, music and German food – is one of the Old Town Commercial Association’s primary fundraisers, so funds raised go towards revitalizing Lansing’s Old Town. It takes place Oct. 9 and 10.

For more information on this year’s Oktoberfest, head to www.oldtownoktoberfest.com.

Hallowe’en in Greenfield Village

The streets and alleys of a haunted Greenfield Village lit by more than 1,000 jack-o’-lanterns during Dearborn museum complex’s “Hallowe’en” celebration. New this year are sword-swallowers, contortionists, jugglers, fire-breathers and other attractions. That may sound scary, but organizers promise a kid-friendly, nightmare-free event.

Dates are Oct. 9 through 11, 15 through 18 and 22 through 25, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays.

For more information, visit www.thehenryford.org.

‘How-to Halloween’

The second annual “How-to Halloween” will continue efforts to “inspire kids and their parents to head to the garage or basement and build something cool for the holiday.”

This year’s event will take place Oct. 3 at the Lansing Center and kick off with the fifth annual Downtown Lansing Zombie Walk. It will offer more than two dozen exhibits, contests, displays and hands-on activities. Vendors will be there, too, with handmade Halloween crafts.

Add to that a zombie make-up tutorial at 11 a.m., zombie costume contest, a computer-controlled pumpkin-carving robot, slime-making seminar and ghost hurling trebuchets.

One new addition this year is a “walk-through haunt,” put together by Detroit’s Poor Man Props, a collaborative group of makers who create Halloween props and displays.

For the scary scoop on “How-to Halloween,” head to www.lansingcenter.com/how-halloween.

The Legend of Sleepy Howell

This 13th annual Legend of Sleepy Howell returns on Oct. 24, packed with Halloween-themed activities in downtown Howell. The event includes trick-or-treating at candy stations, costume contests, live music, hay rides, a hay maze, inflatables, food vendors, the Headless Horseman 5K/10K and more.

For more on The Legend of Sleepy Howell, head to www.sleepyhowell.com.

Fenn Valley Vineyards & Wine Cellar

Fall is the perfect time to go wine tasting around Michigan. Fenn Valley Vineyards & Wine Center in Saugatuck offers fall vineyard tours, where guests travel through the vineyards on wagons. On the tour, you’ll learn how wine is made in Michigan.

Fenn Valley’s annual Vine Wine’d 5K Trail Run is set for Oct. 3. The run is a scenic 5K or 1 mile tour of Fenn Valley’s premium wine grape vineyards and surrounding farm.

For more on Fenn Valley’s fall wine offerings, head to www.fennvalley.com.

Haunted Weekend on Mackinac Island

The fifth annual Haunted Weekend on Mackinac Island will bring ghost hunting, haunted history tours, walking tours of Mission Point Resort and more spooky activities. Authors Kat Tedsen and Bev Rydel of the “Haunted Travels of Michigan” book series will take attendees on a trip into the mysteries and hauntings of Mackinac Island, exploring some of the most “haunted” parts of the island. The weekend takes place Oct. 2 to 4.

For more on Haunted Weekend on Mackinac Island, head to www.hauntedtravelsmi.com/mackinac.

Gem and Mineral Show

The Central Michigan Lapidary and Mineral Society celebrates the 50th year of its annual Gem, Jewelry, Fossil and Mineral Show this month. The show, which happens in the main arena of the Ingham County Fair Grounds from Oct. 23 through 25, is mainly for young people and hobbyists. Organizers expect more than 1,000 grade school children studying the earth sciences to be there on Friday morning.

At the show, dealers from Michigan, Illinois and Indiana will sell various mineral specimens, fossils, pearls, beads, copper, cabochons, silver work, lapidary equipment and more.

The show is open to the public 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 23, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 24 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 25. Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for teens and free for children under 12 with a paying adult.