Fall Pumpkin Festivals
There’s definitely no shortage of fall pumpkin festivals in October, and rightly so. This is pumpkin’s time to shine – from Halloween to Thanksgiving – so be sure to drop in at one of your local fests and stock up on what you need for carving and pie making.
Pumpkin carving is always on display and if you have a knack for the knife, give it a whirl and see if there isn’t a blue ribbon in your future. Likewise, pumpkin delicacies – from pies to breads to ice cream – will all be competing so get in there with your best recipe and aim high.
Kids in particular love pumpkin patches and if your festival has one to wander in, you’ll create great memories for your toddlers. Crafts, music, and of course plenty of food is usually on hand as well so it would be hard not to come away entertained and satisfied. If the kids insist on looking for the Great Pumpkin, chances are there just might be somebody lurking in the pumpkin patch, all dressed up to fit the bill.
Festival of Pumpkins - Paris, TX - Oct 26 to Oct 26, 2024
Enjoy live music, unique shopping, carnival foods like corn dogs, funnel cakes, kettle corn and more as you explore the stores, shops, and festivities in downtown Paris.
Pumpkinfest - Franklin, TN - Oct 26 to Oct 26, 2024
Over 65,000 people stretch along Main Street to celebrate all the festive fall family-friendly fun! Enjoy a kids zone with bouncy houses, pony rides, face painting and more. Costume contest for kids, groups and pets, plus live entertainment, arts & crafts vendors, street festival, beer tent, giant pumpkin, pumpkin carving, and more.
Sycamore Pumpkin Festival - Sycamore, IL - Oct 23 to Oct 27, 2024
Annual decorated pumpkin display with parade, carnivals and indoor craft show. The festival started in 1956 to offer a creative outlet for the students of Sycamore has grown into a city wide event
NH Pumpkin Festival - Laconia, NH - Oct 22 to Oct 31, 2024
Festival in downtown Laconia, with over 40,000 attendees, 20,000 Jack O Lanterns (carve at home or at the festival!), food and craft vendors, 10K/5K, beer garden, live music, kids activities, zip line and climbing wall, horse drawn hay ride, and more!
Beacon Waterfront Pumpkin Festival - Beacon, NY - Oct 20 to Oct 20, 2024
The Beacon Sloop Club’s Annual Pumpkin Festival takes place at Riverfront Park rain or shine from 12pm to 5pm. Hudson Valley pumpkins of all sizes and shapes, freshly baked pumpkin pie, cider, and other delicious food will be available to purchase.
Calabasas Pumpkin Festival - Calabasas, CA - Oct 20 to Oct 20, 2024
Pumpkin patch, professional pumpkin carving, pumpkin pies and more!
Pumpkin Festival - Jacksonville, IL - Oct 19 to Oct 19, 2024
Enjoy a family fun like pumpkin decorating, contests, pumpkin drop, food, vendors and more!
Plainville Pumpkin Fest - Plainville, CT - Oct 19 to Oct 19, 2024
Bring a carved pumpkin, lots of food trucks, 50+ vendors, Mason’s Haunted House, kid’s parade, games & much, much more!! Live music playing on center stage in front of the Municipal Center
Scott’s Addition Pumpkin Festival - Richmond, VA - Oct 19 to Oct 19, 2024
The Boulevard will be closed from Broad St. to Leigh St, so come to celebrate fall, Halloween and all that is pumpkin! The revered gourd is highlighted in beer, libations, food and activities. Local music, local craft beers and spirits and, of course, local food abounds! Have kids or pets that like to dress up? They host a costume contest on the main stage, but registration limited and sign up is day of
Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival - Half Moon Bay, CA - Oct 19 to Oct 20, 2024
The top 5 pumpkins from the giant pumpkin weigh-off are displayed at this epic festival in the “World Pumpkin Capital”.
Old Town Mesquite Pumpkin Fest - Mesquite, TX - Oct 19 to Oct 19, 2024
A decorated pumpkin contest, haunted house, carnival games and children’s activities, plus live jousting and archery show, storytelling, contests and more! Now held at Valley Creek Park.
Great Pumpkin Glow - Mansfield, OH - Oct 18 to Oct 20, 2024
There will be nearly 1,000 carved and lit pumpkins as well as gourds, mums, hay bales, corn stalks, holiday lights and other glowing decorations. Food vendors will be set up in the Trimble Rd. parking lot. Admission is just $5 per person, children 6 & under are free.
Circleville Pumpkin Show - Circleville, OH - Oct 16 to Oct 19, 2024
100,000 attend this event daily. Always the 3rd Wednesday through Saturday in October. Giant pumpkins, parades, Miss Pumpkin Show and Little Miss Pumpkin Show, amusement rides, food vendors, crafts and games.
Garden Glow at Ladew Gardens - Monkton, MD - Oct 16 to Oct 19, 2024
Unique celebration of fall featuring illuminated sculptures, hundreds of glowing jack oÂ’ lanterns, live music, and food & spirits. Garden Glow also features educational programs including animal presentations!
Pumpkinfest - Havana, FL - Oct 12 to Oct 12, 2024
This is an all day family event. Lots of fun activities such as pony rides, train rides, face painting and carriage rides will be available for children. Lots of arts and crafts, homemade goodies and food vendors will be lined up along the streets for your enjoyment.
Stillwater Harvest Fest - Stillwater, MN - Oct 12 to Oct 13, 2024
Chili Cook-Off, microbrew tasting, Giant Pumpkin weigh-Off, pumpkin regatta, live music, kids costume parade, food vendors, kids pumpkin pull, face painting, pie eating contest, and more.
Pennsboro Pumpkin Fest - Enola, PA - Oct 12 to Oct 13, 2024
Held at Adams-Ricci Park. Car show on Saturday, plus craft vendors, games, inflatables, contests, food and entertainment.
Floydada Punkin Day - Floydada, TX - Oct 12 to Oct 12, 2024
An annual celebration in the Pumpkin Capital of Texas. Start out the day with a 5k, then explore vendor booths, BBQ and chili cook-off, costume contest, live entertainment, games for all, bingo, rodeo at the end of the day.
Chatham’s Pumpkin People in the Park - Chatham, MA - Oct 12 to Oct 31, 2024
A fabulous event where Chatham local businesses, and others create unique and fascinating display with Pumpkins. Every year the creativity gets better and better. Thousands of visitors pose for photo opps with the “People.”
Pumpkin Fest - Aurora, MN - Oct 12 to Oct 12, 2024
Held indoor and outdoor at the Aurora Community Center. Features lots of pumpkins, craft vendors, quilt show, children’s games, wagon rides, and festival foods and a 5k pumpkin run.
Pumpkintown Festival - Athens, TN - Oct 12 to Oct 12, 2024
Mutt strutt, tasty treats, heritage exhibit, family fun and entertainment plus petting zoo, carriage rides, pony rides, doggie costume contest, pumpkin carving and more.
Conneaut Lake Fall Pumpkin Fest - Conneaut Lake, PA - Oct 11 to Oct 13, 2024
A weekend of food, crafts and live entertainment, plus giant pumpkin drops, rides, bluegrass and more!
Houston Pumpkin Festival - Houston, PA - Oct 11 to Oct 13, 2024
A community tradition since 1984 loated at the American Legion Post #902 Picnic Grounds. Pumpkin related contests, food & craft vendors, children’s games, parade, music and entertainment. Admission is free.
Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta - Damariscotta, ME - Oct 11 to Oct 14, 2024
Pumpkinboats (400-700 pound, hollowed out pumpkins) are paddled or motor powered in this famous regatta on the Damariscotta River. Also includes giant pumpkin weigh-off, parade, pumpkin drop, pumpkin pancake breakfast and other activities. Main events are over Columbus Day Weekend. In 2017, Travel and Leisure called this one the “Best Fall Festival in Maine!” (https://goo.gl/W3Pdse)
Milford Pumpkin Festival - Milford, NH - Oct 11 to Oct 13, 2024
35,000 attend this annual event. Giant pumpkins, live music, craft fair, make your own scarecrows for kids, haunted trail, corn hole toss competition and more.
Prospect Pumpkinfest - Golden, TX - Oct 5 to Oct 5, 2024
The lineup of entertainment includes live music, a kid zone with games and inflatables, shopping, food trucks and PUMPKINS galore!
CNY Great Pumpkin Festival - Oswego, NY - Oct 5 to Oct 6, 2024
Celebrate everything Fall during Oswego’s Pumpkin Festival in historic Washington Square Park for kids’ activities, amusement rides, live music, crafters and vendors, food trucks, pony rides and more!
Huntsburg Pumpkin Festival - Huntsburg, OH - Oct 5 to Oct 6, 2024
A free family day in the country with free admission, free and free parking, games, entertainment and attractions.
Pumpkinfest - Anamosa, IA - Oct 5 to Oct 5, 2024
A true Main Street Festival that has drawn thousands to Anamosa since 1989. Activities include dozens of food and craft vendors, kids’ games, one of the largest parades in all of Iowa, and GIANT pumpkins.
Glass Pumpkin Fest - Dearborn, MI - Oct 5 to Oct 13, 2024
First weekend is held in Ann Arbor (117 E Ann Street in Kerrytown District). Second weekend is held in their Dearborn workshop. Watch glassblowing demonstrations and commission the perfect pumpkin you’ve always wanted! Free admission.
Pumpkin Fest - Whippany, NJ - Oct 5 to Oct 13, 2024
Join in the Halloween fun at the Whippany Railway Museum onboard “The Pumpkin Patch Train” ! The 10-mile, 45-minute round trip from Whippany to Roseland and return is the perfect way to spend a Fall afternoon with the family. Your ticket entitles you to pick your own pumpkin after the ride at their Pumpkin Patch and enjoy the seasonal fun. Ticket also includes a pumpkin decorating kit. Children of all ages are encouraged to come dressed in their Halloween costumes, where they can mingle with zombies and ghosts, helping to make the train a spooky sight!
Thorp Pumpkin Fest - Thorp, WI - Oct 5 to Oct 5, 2024
Entertainment and fun in downtown Thorp with fall produce, 130+ arts & craft & food vendors, horse drawn wagon rides, pony rides, Civil War and French & Indian War reenactments plus contests with pumpkin cooking, carving, painting, eating, seed spitting and more. An annual event for over 20 years.
Allardt Great Pumpkin Festival and Weigh-off - Allardt, TN - Oct 5 to Oct 5, 2024
Giant pumpkin weigh-off, run, beauty pageant, car show, parade and more.
Corn & Pumpkin Festival - Kirtland, OH - Oct 5 to Oct 6, 2024
Help husk, shell and grind the corn, make handmade cornhusk dolls and paint pumpkins (additional fee). Little farmers can pedal their way on mini tractors through the farm maze on the Pedal Tractor Overlook. They can navigate the hay maze and play in the kid’s areas. Explore the three-acre corn maze, enjoy harvest-themed crafts and other harvest activities including cooking demonstrations. Experience Farmpark with popular activities including cow milking, wagon rides, ice cream making, equine activities, border collie sheep herding demonstrations, plus meet a variety of farm animals. Visitors man also enjoy Showman’s Circle, featuring a farm-themed playground, water feature and live animal demonstrations. Corn & Pumpkin Festival is included with regular Farmpark admission/membership. Children younger than two and Farmpark members get in free.
Famous Pumpkin Train - Coopersville, MI - Oct 5 to Oct 27, 2024
Songs and jokes by the Grand Pumpkin, the Scarecrow, and more. All kids get to pick their own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch! Weekends only, with tickets starting at $17.75 (children under 2 are free).
Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival - Elk Grove, CA - Oct 5 to Oct 6, 2024
The official California site for weigh-offs for the national Giant Pumpkin contest, with something for everyone – carnival rides, games, live entertainment, contests, pumpkin patch, pumpkin boat race, and food! Since 1984.
Great Cortland Pumpkinfest - Cortland, NY - Oct 5 to Oct 6, 2024
Something for everyone includes crafters, children’s games, entertainment, food, tractors, hay rides, pumpkins and lots of displays and exhibits. Held annually at Courthouse Park near downtown Cortland, New York.
Fall Harvest Festival at Johnson’s Locust Hall Farm - Jobstown, NJ - Oct 5 to Oct 27, 2024
This event features apple picking, pumpkin picking, a sunflower photo trail, scenic hayrides, corn maze, live music, wine tasting room and outdoor grill all on a gorgeous farm.
Pocahontas Pumpkin Festival - Pocahontas, VA - Oct 5 to Oct 5, 2024
Bring all your family and friends and come enjoy this fun-packed one day annual event. This is a day for fun with the whole Family. Live music throughout the day. Pumpkin painting for kids, flea markets, multiple different food vendors, and don’t forget the car show!
Pumpkin Daze - Republic, MO - Oct 4 to Oct 5, 2024
Come to downtown Republic and view the giant 400 pound pumpkins, meet the growers, shop the craft booths, enjoy the foods such as hamburgers, ice cream, hot dogs, and cotton candy. A fun event for all since 1992.
Highwood Pumpkin Festival - Highwood, IL - Oct 4 to Oct 6, 2024
This fan favorite event is held to not only break the Guinness World Record of 30,581 for most pumpkins carved in one place, but to take it a step further by lighting a pumpkin for everyone affected by autism in Illinois- a staggering 52,000 individuals! Imagine pumpkins lining the streets on scaffolding towering over 30 feet lit and synced to music. It’s a site to behold and the ultimate family event!
Zeeland Pumpkinfest - Zeeland, MI - Oct 3 to Oct 5, 2024
Family fun and fall activities for more than 30 years.
West Virginia Pumpkin Festival - Milton, WV - Oct 3 to Oct 6, 2024
Celebrating autumn and the harvest since 1986. More than 50,000 people attend annually. Parade, 5K run, crafts, craftsmen demonstrations and live music. Held at the WV Pumpkin Park in Milton.
Louisville Jack O’Lantern Spectacular - Louisville, KY - Oct 1 to Nov 2, 2024
A tradition that began in Massachusetts in 1988 comes to Iroquois Park once more! Enjoy 5000 carved pumpkins along a quarter-mile walking trail as an evening art show.
Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival - Stowe, VT - Sep 29 to Sep 29, 2024
Annual event at Stoweflake Mountain Resort featuring a trebuchet contest, Chili Cook-off Contest, kids activities and live music. This event raises money for the Lamoille Restorative Center in Hyde Park, VT.
Yadkin Valley Pumpkin Festival - Elkin, NC - Sep 28 to Sep 28, 2024
The festivities begin Saturday morning with the Annual Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off on corner of Bridge and Standard Street. There will be pumpkins & watermelon from growers located all over the East Coast. Some will weigh-in at an excess of 1,000 lbs with hopes of placing in the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth top ten. The Main Street of Elkin will be lined with vendors of every description featuring everything from antiques, jump houses, funnel cakes to functional pottery, pumpkin painting, wood furnishings to wine racks, BBQ to baked goods, sand art, pumpkin butter to polish sausages, hand crafted gifts and so much more.
Great Downtown Pumpkin Festival - Rapid City, SD - Sep 28 to Sep 28, 2024
Visit Main Street Square and venture down Sixth St. and into Memorial Park for a pumpkin catapult, giant pumpkin weigh-off, chef competition, the Regional Health and Scull Construction Kidz Zone, wagon rides, vendors and more. Free Parking in Downtown Rapid City.
Apple Pumpkin Festival - Livermore Falls, ME - Sep 28 to Sep 28, 2024
Vendors and craft vendors, agricultural products, historical and educational displays, antique tractors, raffles, live music, decorations, inflatables, Nerf zone, food and more! Held at the rec field
Pumpkin Festival at Riverview Farm - Canton, SD - Sep 28 to Oct 20, 2024
Riverview Christmas Tree Farm hosts this pumpkin festival with pumpkin picking, painting, and pumpkin themed games, inflatables and train rides, farm animals, food vendors, live music, local wine and beer, baked goods and more
Cal Poly Pomona College of Agriculture Pumpkin Festival - Pomona, CA - Sep 28 to Oct 27, 2024
Celebrate California agriculture at this annual event, featuring pumpkin patch, demonstrations, hay rides, corn maze, food, insect fair, live entertainment, petting farm and more!
South Lyon Pumpkinfest - South Lyon, MI - Sep 27 to Sep 29, 2024
Parade, children’s activities, craft show, live music, biergarten, food and more at this event. Do your part to help the festival “Go Green!” Since 1984.
Barnesville Pumpkin Festival - Barnesville, OH - Sep 26 to Sep 29, 2024
Always the last full weekend in September. Lots of great food and contests, over 400 cars in the car show and a giant pumpkin parade, and more. Plus pumpkins for sale!
Versailles Pumpkin Show - Versailles, IN - Sep 25 to Sep 28, 2024
Annual event that began in 1899 and celebrated prize pumpkins, and has grown to include various contests, parades, commercial carnival rides, a dance, Punkin Chunkin’, an annual art show, and more
Ridgefield’s Annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off - Ridgefield, CT - Sep 22 to Sep 22, 2024
Giant pumpkin and squash growers from all over the region will compete for cash prizes, plus kids crafts & activities, pumpkin decorating contest, live music, exhibitors, farm stands, baked goods, food trucks, and more! Held at Ballard Park
Seymour Pumpkin Festival - Seymour, CT - Sep 22 to Sep 22, 2024
The festival annually transforms French Memorial Park into a Halloween themed wonderland, packed with arts and crafts booths, treats both savory and sweet, children’s games, a petting zoo, a midway, a Royal Court featuring local schoolchildren and more. Local civic, sports, and other area nonprofit groups staff booths at the festival that often serve as their biggest annual fundraiser. Proceeds benefit local organizations.
Fall Farm Pumpkin Festival at Youngs - Yellow Springs, OH - Sep 21 to Oct 27, 2024
Enjoy a full day of family fun with the farm’s biggest festival of the year. Take your picture with Humongus Gus, their giant pumpkin, taste freshly made pumpkin cinnamon sugar donut holes, take a tour of their cheese making facility and watch cow milking. And donÂ’t forget to try their latest addition – Pumpkin Bowling!
Romulus Pumpkin Festival - Romulus, MI - Sep 20 to Sep 22, 2024
A street festival on the third weekend in September. It starts with a night parade of lights.
Great Pumpkin Festival - Vernon Township, NJ - Sep 14 to Nov 3, 2024
Heaven Hill Farm has fun for your weekends, including over 30 activities like a pumpkin patch corn maze, arts & crafts, carnival rides, & more! Free parking.
Fall on the Farm - Kutztown, PA - Sep 14 to Sep 14, 2024
Celebrate harvest on the farm! Combine all the best parts of fall: apple cider, sunflowers, pumpkins, wagon tours, and costumes with Rodale Institute’s Fall on the Farm. Purchase crafts, food, and products from Rodale Institute and visiting vendors or pick farm-fresh sunflowers, pumpkins, decorative corn and more. Families can take free wagon tours of the farm, and everyone can enjoy the rotten apple rocket, the pumpkin cannon, and the corn maze.
Harvest Festival at Silver Dollar City - Branson, MO - Sep 13 to Oct 26, 2024
Experience Silver Dollar City’s Harvest Festival featuring Craft Days filled with NEW artisans each week and Pumpkins In The City by night with thousands of illuminated pumpkins with non-frightful fun for the entire family!
Morton Pumpkin Festival - Morton, IL - Sep 11 to Sep 14, 2024
Celebrating over 50 years of the pumpkin harvest and canning at the Pumpkin Capital of the World. An estimated 70,000 attend the carnival, parades and other activities.
Jeffersontown PumpkinFest - Jeffersontown, KY - Oct 27 to Oct 27, 2023
Children dress in costume and trick-or-treat along Historic Gaslight Square, plus refreshments and a family movie night afterwards
Julian Autumn Jubilee - Julian, CA - Sep 23 to Oct 29, 2023
Enjoy a day at Fort Cross with hayrides, cider pressing & tasting, candle dipping, mini pumpkin painting, hoedown & jug band show, petting zoo, reptile show, u-pick pumpkin patch & veggie garden, archery, tomahawk throwing, ghost town slingshot range, fairy & dinosaur garden making, the lilac maze, tire swings, walking trails, and more
Pumpkin Palooza - Sparks, NV - Oct 22 to Oct 23, 2022
2023 – postponed for 2023 with hopes to return. Normally: Autumn-themed activities including a pumpkin derby, marshmallow shooting, costume parade, carnival games live music, pumpkin seed spitting contest, pumpkin pie eating contest and mummy wrapping contest.
Great Pumpkin Festival - Brainerd, MN - Oct 15 to Oct 15, 2022
This annual event runs from 1-4 PM with free admission. Pie throwing, pie eating, sack races and a variety of other kids and parent/children activities. Small fee for horse rides.
Pumpkin Festival - Harrisburg, SD - Oct 8 to Oct 10, 2021
Pumpkin Fest activities includes tractor wagon rides to pick your own apples and pumpkins, pony rides, kiddie train rides, inflatable playground, children’s barn, homemade apple pies, caramel apples, Kettle Korn, apple brats, and much more. There is also a weigh-in for the state-wide giant pumpkin contest, so come to see 500+ lb pumpkins too
Maryland Pumpkin Festival - Frederick, MD - Oct 2 to Oct 3, 2021
Annual event with a corn maze, hay slides, farm animals, pumpkin patch, pig races, live music and of course a great pumpkin patch. Also has a Pumpkin Princess Storytime, pumpkin hunt, candy shoot, and some painting and sculpturing demonstrations.
South Street Pumpkin Fest - Philadelphia, PA - Oct 26 to Oct 26, 2019
PumpkinFest takes over Second Street’s Headhouse Plaza between Pine and South Streets, with live music, shopping, seasonal bites and brews, straw bale maze, live performances, horse and wagon hay rides, face painting, pumpkin decorating and more. South Street businesses will open their doors for trick or treating (children 12 and under). PumpkinFest is free, with food, drink and shopping pay-as-you-go.
Pumpkins & Mums Fall Festival - Excelsior Springs, MO - Oct 5 to Oct 5, 2019
Lots of crafters, vendors, kids activities, pumpkin painting, carnival games and rides, pony rides, petting zoo, and of course great food. (Don’t miss the Zombie 5K the same day!)
We have a Pumpkin Festival in northern Arizona. We grow many different types of pumpkins and have lots for the kids to do. We are open Saturday and Sunday from September 29 through October 28, 2012.
Didier Farms in Prairie View/Lincolnshire, Illinois, offers one of the biggest October fests in the Chicago area. This Northshore area pumpkin extravaganza is known as the “PUMPKINFEST” offering: amusement rides for kides, exotic petting zoo, camel rides, pony rides, crafts, & more…..
Didier Farms “Pumpkinfest” info:
Dates ~ Sep 22 – Oct 31, 2012
Website: http://www.didierfarms.com/pages/pumpkinfest.php
The South Jersey Pumpkin Show family fall festival in 2012 was visited by thousands of families from many states.
The weather, the decorations, pumpkin desserts, live bands, costumed dog parade and Little Miss Pumpkin Show pageant were just a few of the highlights of this South Jersey fall festival. The three day event was packed full of family fun from the craftsmen displays, free kids pumpkin craft making, amusement rides, wine sampling to tractor pulled hayrides. The Salem County Fairgrounds was transformed into a pumpkin fall theme with truckloads of pumpkins, scarecrows, mums and colorful quords. Families stayed all day and enjoyed the Fall Home & Garden area of the event. The South Jersey Pumpkin Show is one of the best fall fesitvals in New Jersey.
The Circleville Ohio, Pumpkin Show is just one of those fall traditions in Ohio that I think everyone celebrates.
I am from Columbus, Ohio and grew up visiting the Main Street held festival year after year. Visited by over 250,000 festival goers year after year. The nightly parade, pumpkin pie by the slice, old fashioned hometown celebration puts a smile on everyone face. Circleville Pumpkin Show is home to the world’s largest baked pumpkin pie, the famous bar “Tootles” and the best baked Pumpkin Pies in the world. No matter what the weather is, thousands of families show up year after year for one of the largest free festivals in United States.
I would give this Hometown Pumpkin Festival ten stars!
Ridgefield’s 1st Annual “Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off” (Ballard Park, Ridgefield, CT) Sunday, Sept 29, 2013 (10am – 3pm). Large Pumpkin growers from the region will come together for a cash prize competition for the heaviest pumpkin, squash and longest gourd. Vendor booths will be themed to support the economy associated with this “harvest season”. Enjoy musical entertainment and a giant pumpkin professional carving demonstration at this great fall event! Free to the public.
http://www.destinationridgefield.com/september-29-quest-for-the-giant-pumpkin/
https://www.facebook.com/Ridgefieldpumpkinweighoff