Pumpkin Festival Half Moon Bay
- Dates
- Oct 17 to 18, 2026
- Status
- Confirmed
- Venue
- To be announced
- Price
- Free
- Camping
- None on site
- Last checked
- Oct 14, 2026
Pumpkin Festival Half Moon Bay returns to Half Moon Bay, CA, Oct 17 to 18, 2026. Froligo tracks free-entry details, attendee feedback and travel details.
Part of our Halloween 2026 guide: every Halloween festival, parade and Día de Muertos event near you.
What to eat & drink
Pumpkin dishes and drinks should follow the published menu, with the giant-pumpkin programme providing crop context.
You must try…
- A current pumpkin food specialty
- A pumpkin dessert or drink
- The World Championship weigh-off experience
Festival weekend in pictures
The people, producers and atmosphere around the festival.
Watch before you taste
Food tours, crowd favourites and festival highlights.
The experience
What's special
The Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival is a free, two-day celebration along historic Main Street, anchored by the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off and the fan-favorite Great Pumpkin Parade held Saturday at noon. The food court overflows with pumpkin-infused treats, while a Family Fun Zone hosts the beloved Pumpkin Pie-Eating Contests, an all-ages Costume Contest and non-competitive pumpkin carving. Live music plays across four stages, more than 250 "Made on the Coast" artisans show their work, and active visitors can join the Pumpkin Run road races. No pets are allowed
What people love
Regulars come as much for the food and atmosphere as the giant gourds, praising the pumpkin-infused treats, especially the homemade pumpkin ice cream, alongside returning non-pumpkin favorites such as linguica, tamales, clam chowder and garlic fries, plus the free music and the spectacle of the championship weigh-off
Music & entertainment
Lineup not yet announced. Email me the day it lands.
Getting there
How do I get to Pumpkin Festival Half Moon Bay?
By car
Most people drive to Pumpkin Festival Half Moon Bay. Check current road and traffic conditions before you set off, and see parking below.
By train
No direct passenger rail to the venue was found. Drive, fly in, or use a shuttle instead.
By bus & public transit
A car-free route from SFO is BART to a Peninsula transfer, then a SamTrans bus over the hill to the coast (SamTrans serves Half Moon Bay from the Hillsdale/San Mateo side). It is a long, multi-leg trip but avoids the festival-weekend parking crunch entirely. The festival publishes a transit/park-and-ride page check it for the current recommended routing
Book / info →Taxi & rideshare
From SFO, rideshare/taxi runs over Hwy 92 to the coast. Note that Pumpkin Festival weekend brings notoriously heavy traffic on Hwy 92 and Hwy 1 into Half Moon Bay allow extra time, and expect drop-offs at the edge of the closed Main Street footprint rather than at the gate
Book / info →Taxis and rideshare such as Uber and Lyft can be limited near the venue, especially late at night or in rural areas. Agree a pickup point and time in advance and keep a backup plan.
🅿 Parking
Cost Park-and-ride shuttle/parking fees are set per edition see the official page.
🚙 Car hire
Compare car hire
A car helps reach the coast and the park-and-ride lots from SFO/SJC/OAK, but is a liability for the last mile on festival weekend given Main Street closures and Hwy 92 congestion use the official park-and-ride shuttle for the final leg
Search car hire →Live price search coming soon.
Where
Camping & Accommodation
Where can I stay near Pumpkin Festival Half Moon Bay?
Budget stays 1
Half Moon Bay, CA (Hwy 1 corridor)
≈ $150-230 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Check rates →Mid-range hotels 2
Half Moon Bay, CA (Hwy 1, south of downtown)
≈ $220-320 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Check rates →Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay
≈ $260-380 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Check rates →Luxe hotels 1
Miramar bluff, Half Moon Bay
≈ $600-1000 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Check rates →Airbnb & private camping
Half Moon Bay and the coastside (Miramar, El Granada, Montara, Moss Beach) have an active but limited short-term-rental market. Pumpkin Festival is one of the coast's biggest weekends of the year, so expect strong surge pricing and early sell-out book well ahead
Search Airbnb →The San Mateo coast and Santa Cruz Mountains have a genuinely strong Hipcamp presence farm stays, coastal ranch sites and redwood glamping within reach of Half Moon Bay a real alternative to the coast's pricey hotels, though the same festival-weekend demand applies
Search Hipcamp →Accessibility & comfort
What the organiser or venue publishes about getting around, and what they do not.
The Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival publishes no dedicated accessibility page, but its quick facts page names one access provision: there will be specially marked accessible parking on Purissima Street between Correas Street and Kelly Avenue.
The festival runs along Main Street in downtown Half Moon Bay with several outlying parking areas including Half Moon Bay High School and the Our Lady of the Pillar Church and Community Center complex. The organiser publishes nothing on ground surface, accessible toilets, accessible viewing, companion or carer tickets or ASL
The festival lists a quiet area, though it is framed for families rather than for sensory needs. Answering whether there is a quiet area for diaper changing, nursing and resting with young ones, the organiser says the Community United Methodist Church hosts the Rest Your Weary Soles Diaper Changing/Rest Area, at the corner of Miramontes and Johnston Streets, one block east of Main Street.
No sensory or low stimulation space is described
Confirm your specific needs with the organiser's access team before you travel.
Checked 2026-09-03 · source
Pricing
Watch
Half Moon Bay ready to host annual Art and Pumpkin Festival, KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA on YouTube
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