This is the big one. Confluence PumpkinFest fills the town park and the streets around it Friday through Sunday, Oct. 2 to 4, and if you only make it to one thing in Confluence this fall, make it this.
Vendor booths open at 2 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday, and the Firemen’s Kitchen opens right along with them. Take a lap before you commit. Every year somebody finds a new favorite booth and every year somebody else finds out their old favorite sold out by noon. While you are walking, get yourself a lamb burger. You will not be sorry.
Saturday is a full day. Hay rides run 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the kids’ tractor pull is at noon in front of Somerset Trust, and pumpkin carving starts at 1 p.m. at the Confluence Creative Arts Center on Williams Street. The largest pumpkin contest follows at 3 p.m. and the Tough Man Truck Pull at 4 p.m. Live music runs all weekend under the entertainment tent, free, with Near The Edge on Friday night, Hollow Point and The Rugg Band on Saturday, and Mr. Man on Sunday.
While you are at the Arts Center, stay for the Trail Town Quilt Show, open Friday 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is worth the stop even if you have never threaded a needle.
Sunday opens with the 33rd annual 5K at 10 a.m. The 34th annual antique car show lines Baxter Street from noon to 3:30 p.m., and the pie eating contest is at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m. comes the duck race. Buy your tickets at the Tourism booth before then; the proceeds benefit the Confluence Tourism Association, the folks who keep the Information Trailer staffed and the bandstand in bunting.
And then there are the dancing tractors. The Country Clover 4-H square dancers take the floor at 2 p.m., and at 2:30 the Roof Garden Tractor Buddies put on their tractor square dance. If you have never seen garden tractors do-si-do, do not miss it. The weekend wraps up with the Grand Feature Parade at 5 p.m. Sunday.
A free van shuttle runs from Turkeyfoot School and the Ursina American Legion from 10 a.m. until closing Saturday and Sunday, which beats circling for parking. Leave the dog, the bike and the skateboard at home; none are allowed on the festival grounds.
None of this happens by itself. A big thank you goes to the Confluence Volunteer Fire Company, which runs the festival and feeds the crowd, to festival chairman Tom Close, to the Borough of Confluence, and to every volunteer who hauls tables, parks cars, judges pies and picks up after the rest of us. When you see them this weekend, say thanks.
Plan your weekend around a few local businesses, too, while you still can. Confluence Riverside Pizza will close after PumpkinFest. The Outflow Soft Freeze has already closed for the 2026 season. River’s Edge Cafe’s last day of the year is Sunday, Oct. 25. The season is turning, and this is the weekend to enjoy what is still open.
For the full hour-by-hour schedule, see confluencepumpkinfest.com or our earlier rundown. It is a big weekend in Confluence. See you in the park.