Allegheny RiverTrail Park in Aspinwall will host a fall festival Oct. 20.

Activities include pumpkin decorating, food vendors, games, music, s’mores, inflatables, a hayride and much more.

The festival is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Rides are planned for 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Admission is free. Advance registration is requested.

Part of the festival is designed to showcase The Front Yard, the name given to the 6-acre expansion project at the former scrapyard. Aspinwall residents are encouraged to attend.

“We’ve done a lot of activities in the park over the years. This one is specific to Aspinwall. Others are welcome to attend, but we really wanted to welcome all of Aspinwall back to the park,” ARP Executive Director Dee Stathis said during a project update to Aspinwall Council on Oct. 4.

The estimated $8 million project includes hillside slides, a recreational lawn, a wildlife viewing platform, food truck parking and other improvements.

The park’s multi-use trail will be extended 1.5 miles to 13th Street in Sharpsburg, and park officials hope it will eventually connect to a trail in Millvale.

The riverside deck has been completed, she said. The fiberglass slide and most of the other components are still under construction.

“We’re pretty close to being finished,” Stathis said. “We have a plaza area that’s concrete. We have a 3,000-square-foot riverside deck (and) two overlooks. … The new park is really meant to be a place where kids could run. A space where it was more open and less programs.”

Park officials broke ground on the expansion in June.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced Aug. 17 that the county has moved into a partnership with the Allegheny RiverTrail Park and Allegheny Valley Railroad Co. to start the process of acquiring the Brilliant Line rail corridor to convert it into a dedicated bike and pedestrian trail.

The Brilliant Line runs from Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood to Aspinwall across a rail bridge over the Allegheny River. It runs above and parallel to Washington Boulevard and includes five bridges.

More information about the park, its projects and activities is available at alleghenyrivertrailpark.org.

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