Oktoberfest beer. Pumpkin curry. Flautas, pupusas and more!
Enjoy tasty food, and award-winning wine and beer among the pumpkins on Sept. 29, at the Second Annual Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Fest Preview Night.
The university's very own award-winning Innovation Brew Works and Horsehill Vineyards will provide beer and wine, respectively, at the event, while local chefs and restaurants will offer up food, desserts and other tasting samples.
The Pumpkin Preview event will be held at the pumpkin patch from 5 to 8:30 p.m.; it is open to the public, however admission is restricted to adults 21 and over.
Tickets are $85 each and include the cost of food and beverage.
Food offerings will range from Mexican and Peruvian cuisine to barbecue, Asian and vegan dishes. Vendors also will have tarts, gourmet marshmallows made with farm-fresh ingredients and Cal Poly Pomona Farms ice creams to sample.
Some of the samples will incorporate produce grown on the campus farm.
"At Cal Poly Pomona, our students learn how to grow crops for food, wine and beer," said Craig Walters, the Pumpkin Fest director. "We welcome the public to enjoy the fruits of our farm and learn more about what our students do."
Guests also will get to experience many of the Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Fest activities, including the petting farm, the kids' corn maze, pumpkins, and the sunflower maze. In addition, The Storytellers bluegrass band will provide live music.
Preview Night tickets are for sale online only at https://www.cpp.edu/pumpkinfestival/preview-night.shtml.
Proceeds from the Pumpkin Preview will support Cal Poly Pomona's Huntley College of Agriculture, specifically the Dean's Excellence Fund, which is used for the agricultural program's greatest needs.
Wine and Beer
Horsehill Vineyards will serve three different vintages to guests at the preview event, including the brand new 2022 Zinfandel Rosé.
The winemaking enterprise is a collaboration between South Coast Winery in Temecula and the Huntley College of Agriculture, whose students help grow and harvest the grapes from on-campus vineyards.
Horsehill Vineyards has won multiple awards, including a gold medal at the Los Angeles International Wine Competition.
Innovation Brew Works is a professionally managed brewpub in Cal Poly Pomona's Innovation Village that serves as a learn-by-doing brewing lab for the university.
Pumpkin Fest Follows Preview Night
The month-long Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Fest will officially kick off Sept. 30, and run Fridays through Sundays in October.
It will feature all the traditional fun and activities that families have grown to love: the petting farm, corn maze, hayrides, costume contests, the Cow Train, Ag Discovery Lane, Sunflower Fields, antique farm tractors, food vendors, live music, and much more.
Tickets are available for sale at https://pumpkinfestival.cpp.edu. Season passes and discounts on Value Fridays are available.
Corporate sponsorships are available this year. For more information, contact Patricia Tucker, the Huntley College's senior director of development, at (909) 869-4409 or pjtucker@cpp.edu.