Buffalo Bills fans can still get lost in football during the bye week.
It should be music to their ears.
The Great Pumpkin Farm in Clarence has turned its five-acre cornfield into a tribute to the Bills, complete with a quarterback throwing a football, a rendering of new Highmark Stadium and giant "GO BILLS" lettering carved into the maze.
There's no football game Sunday, but there's still a field worth visiting.
The Bills have their Week 7 bye and don't play again until Nov. 1, giving fans a chance to squeeze in another fall weekend before Halloween.
"We thought it was very appropriate this year with the new stadium and a lot of excitement about the team," said Ben Schultz, chief operating officer of The Great Pumpkin Farm.
There's one problem with
running a popular fall attraction in Bills country.
"The only unfortunate thing is when the Bills play on Sundays, the crowds thin out before kickoff," Schultz said. "But I'm also watching the game like everyone else is."
No such conflict this weekend.
The farm, about 25 miles northeast of Highmark Stadium in Erie County, is holding a full festival weekend Oct. 24-25 before one last day of festivities on Halloween.
The Bills-themed cornfield has already drawn someone who knows his way around a football field.
Bills receiver Khalil Shakir visits The Great Pumpkin Farm
Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir added The Great Pumpkin Farm to his route during the festival's opening weekend in September.
Shakir visited with his family and posed for a photo shared on the farm's social media accounts.
The maze was the idea of farm manager Ashley, Schultz said, and features a quarterback, football, stadium and the words "GO BILLS" and "2026" stretching across the field.
The farm has featured Bills-themed designs before, along with skeletons, race cars, dinosaurs and "The Wizard of Oz."
Schultz said the farm previously contacted the Bills about using the team's official logo but couldn't because it's a for-profit business.
That didn't stop them from finding another way to show their support.
"People love any corn maze, but to throw the Bills in there, it adds extra excitement around town and it's perfect," Schultz said.
How did The Great Pumpkin Farm create its Bills corn maze?
You don't create something like this with a quick huddle and a few hand tools.
Not anymore.
Schultz, 45, has worked at The Great Pumpkin Farm since his father started the business 30 years ago.
Back then, creating a corn maze was a decidedly more hands-on operation.
"When we started, we were out there with stakes and string and trying to make a design in the corn and cut the corn," Schultz said.
Now a separate company uses GPS-guided equipment to plant the corn according to the design in the spring, rather than growing an entire field and cutting out the pathways afterward.
The equipment is so precise that the crew doesn't even need daylight.
"A company comes out and does it in the pitch black in the middle of the night," Schultz said. "They don't even need to see. It's all automated."
The result is a giant piece of artwork that's best appreciated from above.
From inside the maze, it's another story.
"Once you're in there, there's no other way you'd be able to tell what the design is," Schultz said.
The Bills might need a playbook. Visitors get a map.
And with five acres of corn to navigate, they'll probably need it.
The Great Pumpkin Farm fall activities, hours and ticket prices
The Great Pumpkin Farm, at 11199 Main St. in Clarence, has two more days of its full weekend festival Oct. 24-25 and a final celebration on Halloween, Oct. 31.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and admission is $20 per person. The Bills-themed corn maze costs an additional $12, or $10 with an admission coupon. Children 2 and younger are free.
The farm also offers free weekday admission with limited attractions. On Fridays in October, the corn maze opens at 2 p.m. for an additional charge.
There are more than 40 attractions, including hayrides, pedal karts, amusement rides, jumping pillows, a petting zoo, pumpkin cannons and plenty of cider and donuts.
Things get a little eerie in Erie County during the final days of the festival, with zombies making appearances in the corn maze.
The farm's final day on Oct. 31 also features Halloween costume contests.
More information and tickets are available at greatpumpkinfarm.com.
And what becomes of the Bills-themed cornfield after Halloween?
The corn stalks dry out and remain standing until spring, Schultz said, although wandering through the maze on snowshoes probably wouldn't be much fun.
Still, there's one reason he'd consider keeping the Bills design around longer.
"If it helps us win the Super Bowl," Schultz said, "I'd keep it all year."
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: A New York pumpkin farm has a giant Buffalo Bills-themed corn maze
