About the Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Fest

PUMPKIN FEST – Welcome Back to the Farm!

Cal Poly Pomona's College of Agriculture started the Pumpkin Festival more than 30 years ago. What began as a humble patch by the side of the road where visitors could cut their own pumpkins off the vine has grown into a month-long series of events and activities in October. The festival has become hugely popular, drawing thousands of visitors to pick pumpkins from a patch near the Farm Store. As many as 120,000 visitors have come during October, making it one of the largest events in the entire California State University system.

The Huntley College of Agriculture grows 40,000 pumpkins, two corn mazes, and a sunflower field, and provides petting farm animals for the event. Visitors can play games, listen to live music, and observe displays and demonstrations from student clubs in the college and agriculture-related organizations. Demonstration highlights include cow milking, sheep shearing, and working mills. Food and drinks are available to purchase from vendors. 

AGRIscapes Outreach Center

AGRIscapes was created in 2001 as an educational outreach branch of Cal Poly Pomona's College of Agriculture. Located south of the main campus on Temple Avenue, it occupies 20 acres of farmland and facilities. AGRIscapes includes the Visitor Center with space available for meetings, workshops, and small conferences; the Cal Poly Pomona Farm Store which sells produce grown on campus along with other food and gift items, and the Plant Science Nursery is a large greenhouse complex used for production and research and sells plants online.

Each spring and fall, AGRIscapes welcomes more than 14,000 school-age children visiting the center on field trips. Children learn about farming, nutrition, insects, farm animals, and textiles. College of Agriculture and other Cal Poly Pomona students are hired as guides.

The Huntley College of Agriculture

The Huntley College of Agriculture is the founding college at Cal Poly Pomona and the only state university agricultural program in Southern California.

Five departments offer a wide range of fields for students to study and earn bachelor’s degrees:

• Agribusiness & Food Industry Management
• Animal & Veterinary Science
• Apparel Merchandising & Management
• Nutrition & Food Sciences
• Plant Sciences

The college ranks among the best in the nation in urban agriculture and apparel manufacturing, and among the best in the California State University system in equestrian science, animal veterinary technology and food and nutrition. It offers the only four-year animal veterinary technologist program west of the Mississippi River, and our students have excelled in passing the exams required to become registered dieticians and dietetic technicians.

Our graduate programs offer master’s degrees in agricultural science, animal science, nutrition and food science, and plant science.

Students gain a wealth of hands-on experience in the college’s facilities which cover more than 700 acres of land. They include the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center; three vineyards; cattle, sheep and swine units; an apparel technology research center; agricultural fields and greenhouses; and food labs. See the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center Sunday Horse Show Schedule.

For more information about the college, visit www.cpp.edu/agri.

About Cal Poly Pomona

Cal Poly Pomona is one of three polytechnic universities in California. It is known for academic excellence, hands-on learning, and affordable tuition fees. Education takes place both within and beyond the classroom, and students tackle real-world challenges, giving them an advantage as career-ready graduates.

Nestled in 1,438 acres on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, the campus serves more than 25,000 students, faculty, and staff who come from diverse backgrounds.

For more about the university, visit www.cpp.edu. 

Vendors

One of the greatest parts of attending Pumpkin Fest is checking out the fun and tasty foods and handmade crafts from our excellent vendors.

To be a food vendor, you must have a valid health permit from Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, or Riverside counties. Booths are expected to be attractive and clutter-free to present a visually pleasing environment for our guests. As this is a pumpkin festival, we require that all food vendors promote a pumpkin-themed food item on their menus. Update Aug. 13: we are no longer accepting food vendor applications for the 2024 Pumpkin Fest. 

Non-food vendors may only sell handmade items or plants; if you are not sure about your product, please ask. Although we prefer that our vendors participate all five weekends, some exceptions can be made.

If you would like to explore becoming a craft vendor at this year’s Pumpkin Fest, please fill out and return this application form (.docx).

Volunteer

To volunteer, please send an email to pumpkinfestival@cpp.edu. If there is an opportunity to volunteer, you will be contacted. All volunteers must complete and turn in the Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly Pomona Enterprise Foundation volunteer forms before coming onsite to volunteer. Those under 18 must have a legal guardian complete the forms and accompany them during their volunteer shift(s).

Bulk Pumpkin Request

The availability of bulk pumpkins varies each year. If you are interested in purchasing bulk pumpkins, please complete the request form below. The earliest that we can confirm orders is Oct. 7, and the pumpkins will not be available for pickup until after Oct. 20. Please note: you must purchase a minimum of 20 or more pumpkins to receive the bulk price. 

Bulk Pumpkin Request Form

Pumpkin Donation Request

9/26 UPDATE:
We have allocated all of our pumpkins that were set aside for donation this year and are no longer accepting donation requests.