Enjoy fall in Mendocino County at the annual PumpkinFest in Ukiah


As the largest street fair in Mendocino County, Ukiah’s PumpkinFest is the place to be this fall. The annual celebration is Friday, October 12 through Sunday, October 14 this year in downtown Ukiah. This year’s event features amazing seasonal food, fun contests, live music, carnival rides, and costume contests.

The yearly fall event begins with the giant pumpkin weigh-off, which starts at 4 p.m. on Friday. But the official kick-off to this fun family-friendly festival starts with the parade on Saturday. The parade begins at 10 a.m. in the Fairgrounds parking lot and continues down State Street to Seminary Avenue on to Oak Street and ends on Clay Street. 

The festive parade features a variety of entertaining attractions, including amazing floats, marching bands, dance groups, and, of course, a ton of residents wearing creative Halloween costumes. All parade participants will be competing for prizes, including the groups and marching bands, as well as the costume wearers. The day’s best costumes will earn awards in four categories: most enthusiastic, best PumpkinFest theme, best harvest theme, and most creative.

You can see details of this year’s theme, PumpkinFest goes to the Arcade, throughout the entire event, from the parade floats to the vendor booths and even in Scarecrow City. This annual event gives area classrooms and youth groups the chance to work together to create a scarecrow to enter into the contest. All entries will be displayed at PumpkinFest.

As the event continues through the weekend, visitors can also enjoy an array of other family-friendly activities from carnival rides and games to a craft fair and fine arts exhibit. PumpkinFest also features a variety of competitive activities, including a three-on-three basketball tournament and baking contest for both adults and children. And beer lovers can enjoy a huge selection of craft drinks at the event’s homebrew contest, which will feature entries in the categories of harvest ales and pumpkin flavored beers.

Entries into any of the contests at PumpkinFest will be accepted until October 12. For more information or to fill out an entry form, visit Ukiah’s website at www.cityofukiah.com/pumpkinfest/