Confluence PumpkinFest Is Two Weeks Out. Here Is Everything on the Schedule.
Confluence PumpkinFest runs October 2 to 4 in the town square, with a parade, a 5K, the Queen Pageant, a tractor pull and Square Dancing Tractors
Ask anybody around here what the best weekend of the year is and you will get one of two answers. Half the town says the Fourth. The other half says PumpkinFest. The other half is correct, and on October 2 they get to prove it again.
Confluence PumpkinFest returns to the town square Friday, October 2 at 2 p.m. and runs through Sunday, October 4 at 5 p.m. Three days. One square. More orange than a hunting season opener.
What is on the schedule
The Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy, which lists PumpkinFest as the most beloved festival along the entire 150-mile trail, has the lineup as follows:
- Arts and crafts vendors filling the square
- Food trucks
- The PumpkinFest Queen Pageant
- A 5K run and walk
- An antique and classic auto show
- The parade
- The largest pumpkin contest
- A garden tractor pull
- A photo contest
- The tough man fire truck pull
- A tractor square dancing exhibition
- Live music
Yes, tractor square dancing. If you have never watched a row of tractors do a do-si-do, you have a gap in your education that October can fix.
Where to find it
Everything centers on the town square, with the festival grounds listed at 600 Logan Place in Confluence. Parking fills up early on Saturday, which is the busiest of the three days, so the usual advice applies: come in early, park once, walk everywhere.
Coming in on the trail
Confluence sits at mile 62 of the Great Allegheny Passage, and PumpkinFest weekend is one of the last big riding weekends before the weather turns. If you are planning to ride in, book a room now rather than later. Lodging in town goes fast that weekend and the overflow ends up in Ohiopyle or Rockwood.
Riders should also note that the erosion at mile 56, between Rockwood and Confluence, is still flagged by the Conservancy as a partial obstruction. Slow down through there.
Details and vendor information
Full schedules, vendor applications and pageant information are posted at the festival’s own site, confluencepumpkinfest.com. The event is organized by the Confluence Volunteer Fire Department
Two weeks out. Start picking your pumpkin.