Cal Poly Pomona’s 27th annual Pumpkin Festival returns with a huge opening weekend on Oct. 5 and 6, featuring a pumpkin patch with thousands of pumpkins, entertainment and a variety of activities.
Activities and attractions include: pumpkin patch with $5 pumpkins, hay rides, two corn mazes, sunflower patch, insect fair, pony rides, petting farm, animal training demonstrations, cow-milking, soap-making, blacksmithing demonstration, beekeeping exhibit, rag doll making and a rubber duck race.
“The pumpkin festival is a fun family event,” says Craig Walters, the festival’s director. “But we also hope that you’ll learn something new about farming, which continues to be a major industry in California that offers science and technology-related careers for our students.”
Festival-goers can play games at student-run booths or compete in pumpkin pie-eating or seed-spitting contests. A farmers’ market will feature Cal Poly Pomona-grown fruits and vegetables.
Children can visit the Children’s Garden, get their faces painted, decorate pumpkins, compete in a costume contest, crawl through squash tunnels or pick small pumpkins at the Kid’s Patch.
The festival also features live music and a food court with a variety of vendors.
The two-day event will be held at Cal Poly Pomona’s AGRIscapes Center, 4102 S. University Drive, Pomona. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days.
Advance tickets can be purchased through the Pumpkin Festival website for $4 for adults and $3 for children ages 2 to 12. Cal Poly Pomona students, faculty and staff can buy tickets for $3 with Bronco ID either at the AGRIscapes office (near the Cal Poly Pomona farm Store), ASI Games Room or at the gate on festival weekend.
Tickets purchased at the gate the day of the event are $5 for adults and $4 for children ages 2 to 12. Children under 2 are admitted free. Parking is included with the admission.
October 8-31
The pumpkin fun continues Oct. 8 through Halloween (except Mondays). The patch and some of the special activities will be open Tuesdays to Sundays. Check the Pumpkin Festival website for details on times and activities.
Admission to the patch is free during this period, but some activities will have a small fee. Free parking will be limited. Most pumpkins will be $5 with larger ones priced at $6 and gigantic pumpkins priced higher.
Nearly 1,000 students are involved in staging this annual celebration of California agriculture. Festival proceeds support student programs in the Huntley College of Agriculture at Cal Poly Pomona.
For more information, email agriscapesinfo@cpp.edu.