Well, BLINK Cincinnati has come and gone, and by all accounts it was a tremendous success.

The first-of-its-kind projection art and light show reportedly brought over 1 million people to the downtown area — including a tour bus full of residents from Deupree House and our Hyde Park sister community, Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Home — over the course of just one weekend!

But that doesn’t mean the autumn fun is over for Tristate seniors in 2017. There are plenty of family-friendly arts and cultural events for you to check out in October and November!

Today, let’s discuss some of your best bets for getting out of the house, spending time with the grandkids, seeing the colorful leaves and enjoying our crisp, Ohio fall air.

The Great Pumpkin Fest

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! No, but it is Kings Island’s annual, kid-friendly Great Pumpkin Fest, taking place from noon to 6 p.m. daily through Oct. 29 at the Mason, Ohio, amusement park.

The Great Pumpkin Fest is a Halloween party hosted by Snoopy and all the Peanuts gang. It includes live entertainment, hay mazes, push-pedal tractor courses, safe trick-or-treating and all your favorite Kings Island rides, including thematically-appropriate roller coasters (for you and your older grandkids) like The Beast, The Bat, Flight of Fear, Banshee and the new Mystic Timbers.

The little ones can even visit with Patch, a real, talking Great Pumpkin! Park admission is $48 for adults, with discounts available for retired military members, and $31 for children.

The Storm That Built Music Hall

So, you’ve probably heard that renovations to Cincinnati’s storied concert venue, Music Hall, are now complete and the Grand Opening Weekend for this year’s Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra season was an historic success.

What you’ve probably never heard of is the weather event that inspired Music Hall’s construction in the first place.

In spring, 1875, a severe thunderstorm rumbled through the Tristate, dumping rain and hail on the Saengerhalle where the May Festival was taking place. The pounding and clanging on the hall’s tin roof drowned out choral performances and inspired citizens to raise funds to build a beautiful, permanent home for the festival.

On Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 4-5, the Louis Langrée will conduct the Symphony and the May Festival Chorus as they perform musical selections that were on the program that long-ago, stormy day.

HallZOOween

Have you met the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens’ superstar hippo youngster, Fiona? This month offers you a great chance — the weather is spectacular and she’s now old enough to spend a significant amount of time in her outdoor enclosure.

Weekends through Oct. 29, noon-5 p.m., the Zoo is celebrating its yearly HallZOOween event, which is included in the price of admission to the park.

It features safe trick-or-treat stations, special animal encounters, the “Beauty Shop of Horrors,” Phil Dalton’s Theater of Illusion shows, the Hogwart’s Express train ride and “scare-ousel” rides (they’re not very scary at all — perfect fun for younger grandkids).

And, speaking of the Cincinnati Zoo . . .

PNC Festival of Lights

The holiday season is upon us, and the Zoo’s PNC Festival of Lights will return, evenings beginning Nov. 18 and running through New Year’s Day.

In this, the 35th annual installment, you and your grandchildren will marvel at 3 million brilliant holiday lights, laugh along with Madcap Puppet shows and enjoy gooey make-your-own s’mores.

After you search for fairies in Fairyland and see the spectacular Wild Lights show on Swan Lake, you can also ride the BB&T Toyland Express.

And, this year, Santa will be in his house beginning at 4 p.m. — a full hour before the rest of the festivities begin — so you can avoid nights out past bedtime with little ones who need their rest.

There’s no shortage of fall events for Tristate seniors to enjoy this year.

Get out. Take your grandchildren out to visit one of our many local orchards, grab a glass of hot cider and pick your own pumpkin.

Or, just take a quiet walk in one of the Great Parks of Hamilton County, where you can enjoy the changing leaves and catch sight of the thousands of migrating birds. There’s plenty of ways for seniors to experience Ohio’s beautiful fall in 2017.