Headless Horseman Festival at Conner Prairie

Updated 9/24/2024

Deep-rooted in over 1,000 acres of history, Conner Prairie is renowned for its thrilling fall event, the Headless Horseman Festival. This festival offers an array of events and activities, and its immense popularity in central Indiana draws an average of 2,500 attendees nightly.

The Headless Horseman has appeared at Conner Prairie for more than four decades. It is a Sleepy Hollow essential to your family’s Fall bucket list!

Festival activities include (according to their website):

NEW fire art performances
UPDATED Midway Experience with all-new activities and TWO carnival rides
UPDATED Barrel Train Ride through a pumpkin patch with singing jack o’ lanterns(riders must be under 48” tall)
Perilous Plunge dry tubing hill
Long and short corn mazes
Volunteer to help the cleanup efforts after an alien invasion in our Trail of Terror Haunted Corn Maze experience
Create collaborative art in The Haunted Studio
Play with light and shadows in the Shadow Play Maze.
Engage in sensory play with Fall Sensory Bins.
Eerie Illusions magic show
Sleepy Hollow one-man show
Sleepy Hollow marionette show
Live music performances

Headless Horseman

Featuring both rides during the day and evening, the Headless Horseman offers both a scary and festive element to Fall. The Haunted Hayride brings the Headless Horseman alive through a seated hayride through Conner Prairie, where the Headless Horseman himself shows up.

Based on the classic tale, the Headless Horseman comes alongside the tractor wagon, riding a horse with a sword. While this may seem frightening to young children, it wasn’t as scary as I anticipated, and I did see many families with young children on the night ride. The night rides may be more scary to young children than daylight rides.

We took one of the last tractor rides available in the evening. Plan to wait for the Haunted Hayride; we arrived on a jam-packed night at 7:30 p.m. and received tickets for the 10:15 p.m. ride (then waited an additional 45 minutes in the line after 10:15). If you are taking little ones, prepare for this in advance!

If you arrive before 10 p.m., characters will sing traditional songs while waiting in line. For the evening ride, expect a few scares, such as spooky music, displays, and possibly some jump-scares in addition to the Headless Horseman.

Corn Mazes

The Conner Prairie corn maze has been voted among the top 10 best in the country award! How cool is that!? {and that’s just one awesome fact!}

Long Maze: Test your wits in our family-friendly long maze, which can take up to one hour to complete.
Short Maze: Bring the little ones to our shorter kids’ maze. 30 minutes to complete.
Trail of Terror Maze: Brave the spooky Trail of Terror after dark—recommended for ages 10+. Guests will experience sounds, effects, lights, and live scare actors. The attraction is open from sunset to 10 p.m.

Important Maze Info

Admission is included in your Festival ticket. However, if you’d like to visit during the day, the mazes are open for $5 for guests and $4 for members.
The short and long mazes are open during Conner Prairie’s open hours and the festival. The Haunted Trail of Terror is only open during the evenings of the Headless Horseman festival.
The short maze is appropriate for children; the long maze is appropriate for teens and adults. Guests ages 15 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.
Corn maze paths are 5 feet wide.
Wheelchairs and strollers are not advised.
Using the restrooms BEFORE the maze is recommended.

The Apple Store

The Apple Store will be open from September 5 through October 31 and during the Headless Horseman Festival.

Sleepy Hollow Tavern

The festival will offer various food options throughout the grounds, from burgers to pizza, pretzels, kettle corn, and much more. Stop by the Sleepy Hollow Tavern for your favorite beverages like Conner Scary and Sun King’s exclusive Headless Horseman beer.

Tips for Visiting:

Hayride and Festival Admission is $36 for guests ages two and up, $10 for members, and $7 for Access Pass holders. A reduced admission is available for just festival admission (not including the hayride).
Headless Horseman is a rain-or-shine festival!
Tickets can be purchased online here. If tickets are not “sold out in advance,” they will only be available at the gate.
Plan to spend 2-3 hours at the festival (longer on busy nights & weekends).
Please arrive 45 minutes earlier than your selected hayride time for ample time to check in and walk to the hayride.
Children are always encouraged to come dressed up in Halloween costumes. Please refrain from wearing masks.
Photos are allowed during the tractor ride, but flash photography, tripods, and other equipment are not.
Children aged 15 and under need to be accompanied by an adult.
Bring extra money if you want to purchase beverages and food or ride the 1859 Balloon Voyager.
Food will be available for purchase, including hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken strips, French fries, hot pretzels, cotton candy, elephant ears, kettle corn, and various hot and cold beverages.

Stay in Hamilton County

Book a local VRBO or Airbnb. Or stay in one of Hamilton County’s hotels:

Headless Horseman Festival at Conner Prairie