October 17th - Half Moon Bay Art And Pumpkin Festival

Greeting ghouls and boils,

This weekend - 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. October 18th and 19th is the 44th Annual Half Moon Bay Art And Pumpkin Festival.

From their website (here): "The festival began in 1971 when the Main Street Beautification Committee was formed. The all-volunteer, non-profit group was founded with the goal of raising funds for the revitalization of Main Street in downtown Half Moon Bay which, at the time, was beginning to show signs of decay. Realizing the area's abundance of pumpkin patches, the committee decided to organize an old-fashioned festival in the downtown area for visitors who had come to pick Halloween pumpkins.
The first year of the Festival, about 30,000 people attended the event and only one local non-profit group opted to present food. Now the event bulges with enormous crowds and dozens of local non-profit groups operating food and game booths, earning substantial portions of their annual budget from the festival weekend selling everything from pumpkin pie and ice cream to linguica sandwiches and corn dogs.

"The Pumpkin Festival has done more the for this city, by far, than any other thing in the city's history," according to former City Manager Fred Mortensen. The ever-increasing proceeds are committed to to beautifying the downtown area and contributing to civic causes. In addition to the restoration and maintenance of Main Street, a wide variety of local community service organizations benefit greatly from festival proceeds."

It has been years since I have attended as it gets SUPER trafficky (if that's a word). If you do happen to head over there grab a pint of Half Moon Bay Brewing Company's Mavericks Pumpkin Harvest Ale (here). "Mavericks Harvest Pumpkin Ale is a truly delicious beer based off their beloved Mavericks Amber Ale. It’s made with more than 500 pounds of locally-grown, roasted and spiced Sugar Pie pumpkins added to the brew kettle. The result is a subtle pumpkin pie flavor balanced by a biscuity maltiness."

Again, this free-admission festival will be held on October 18-19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Main Street between Miramontes and Spruce Streets in Half Moon Bay. To get to Half Moon Bay, take 101 or 280 to Highways 92 or 84 west. You can also get to Half Moon Bay via Highway 1 from both north and south. Get directions from your location.

Happy Haunting!

Mark Harvey