Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival

Art & Pumpkin Festival Celebrates its 38th Year
Pumpkintime is Primetime in Pumpkintown. Autumn is a magical time of year on the fertile, picturesque coast around Half Moon Bay. Stunningly beautiful vistas of seaside farm country with rolling fields of orange, scarecrows, and pick-your-own pumpkin patches. It's the perfect time of year to celebrate the iconic symbol of autumn and Half Moon Bay does it in a singularly spectacular way. Every year, massive crowds make the annual trek to the “World Pumpkin Capital” for the epic HALF MOON BAY ART & PUMPKIN FESTIVAL, October 18-19, 2008. Year after year, festival goers enjoy a memorable experience with the special display of massive weigh-off champion pumpkins, the remarkable “Picasso of pumpkin carvers” sculpting and shaping a monster 1,000+ pound pumpkin, three stages of blockbuster entertainment, everyone's favorite home-spun parade, harvest-inspired crafts, the tastiest pumpkin pie on the planet, enchanting events and contests for the whole family, and the never-ending search for the Great Pumpkin waiting to be picked from one of the rustic pumpkin patches dotting the coast. Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Admission is free.

Visit their site (click here) - they have too many events to list!

I absolutely love going to the Pumpkin Festival, but it has gotten so crowded that getting over to Half Moon Bay from the Peninsula is nearly a day long event in and of itself. My son has never been and perhaps someday I will once again brave the crowds to get over to Half Moon Bay (or better yet, just stay the night over there and wake up in my favorite Northern California coastal community).

If you do make it to the festival this year please let me know how it was.

Mark Harvey
A Pumpkin Lover (needless to say)