On Saturday, Oct. 11, hundreds of University students, faculty, staff, and Middletown residents gathered to celebrate the annual Pumpkin Fest. Despite the cloudy skies, the festival was able to set the right tone for the beginning of fall.
The fest was primarily organized by Long Lane Farm, which collaborated with the Bailey College of the Environment (COE), Office of Student Involvement, and Bon Appétit. The event, held every fall since 2004, celebrates the harvest at the farm and raises funds for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry.
“[The Pumpkin Fest] has been around for roughly 20 years, and it was one of the first events that started [here],” Long Lane Farm worker Annie Hedgepeth ’26 said. “It has always been a coordination between the COE and the farm in Middletown.”
Long Lane Farm, a student-run organic farm at the University, produces high-quality organic food for Middletown residents, food pantries, and a soup kitchen.
Pumpkin Fest hosted multiple stalls and vendors run by University and Middletown community members, selling handcrafted materials, baked goods, and flowers, among various other things. Student clubs, including Adolescent Sexual Health Awareness, the Clay Club, and the Outing Club, also tabled at the event, and Long Lane Farm sold different varieties of greens and apples.
One vendor was Beets & Blooms Farm, which sold flower-based artifacts at the fest.
“We’ve got dried florals,” Beets & Blooms Farm co-owner Brittany Hall said. “Everything has been grown on our farm. We’re certified organic, so we’ve got dried and fresh florals. We’ve got dried bouquets, fresh bouquets, hoops, ornaments, magnets, bookmarks: kind of a little bit of everything.”
The vendors not only saw this as a chance to sell their products but also as an opportunity to engage with their local community.
“Last year was our first year vending at Pumpkin Fest,” Beets & Blooms Farm co-owner Caley Brooks said. “We had an awesome time. Everybody was so sweet. We do the Middletown Market every Friday with [Long Lane]. So we have a relationship with the students, and they had told us about Pumpkin Fest coming up. Our farm is in East Hampton, but we live in Middletown, so it was super cool to come and not only see the students and everybody, but also our neighbors who came by.”
One of the highlights of the event was the pumpkin and face painting, which attracted people of all ages, ranging from little kids to adults.
“This is our third or fourth time coming,” Middletown resident Emmy Brockman said. “We live down the street, so we can walk over here, which is so fun. And both of my kids love live music.”
This year’s festival also included 50 more pumpkins.
“I like to think every year is perfect, but one of the things I’m most proud of is we have a lot more pumpkins than we did last year,” Hedgepeth said. “This year, we have 150; last year, I think we only had a hundred, so I’m glad that more people are getting pumpkins, enjoying them, and painting them.”
Attendees appreciated the gathering of the University and Middletown communities with organic farming, food, music, and pumpkins.
“This is my first Pumpkin Fest,” Sam Korenbaum ’28 said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s very down to earth, very calm and chill, and the music’s great.”
Students grilled veggie patties in the open, with condiments and buns served on the side. The menu also included pumpkin pie and hot apple cider.
“The cider was so good,” Korenbaum said. “ I love the cider and the pumpkins.”
In addition to drinks, the festival also included a pie-eating contest that pitted the peckish and hungriest against the determined and resolute. Rory Joslin ’28 won, beating out his twin sister Lane ’28.
“I’m here because I learned all the non-competition pies were already taken,” contestant Jonah Barton ’26 said, before gingerly eating his pumpkin pie bite by bite.
While most students appreciated Pumpkin Fest, a light drizzle during the event, along with the wasps, made it an unpleasant experience for some.
“Really good vibes, good music, all that stuff,” Javier Marciano ’28 said. “I didn’t find any real pumpkins yet, so that was a little disappointing, but it is very fall.”
Eight different bands performed, from the beginning of the event to around 4 p.m., when the festival concluded.
“I think one of the best parts is [that] you can just listen, sit, and vibe with people and enjoy the music together,” Korenbaum said. “I think that’s a good way to meet [people] by, just like, chilling and enjoying the music together.”
Raiza Goel can be reached at rgoel@wesleyan.edu.
Aarushi Bahadur contributed reporting.
Brendan Kelso contributed reporting.
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