LITTLETON, Colo. — Pumpkin Festival is the biggest single-weekend event hosted each year at Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms. While attendees enjoy just a weekend of festivities, the team behind the event spends all year preparing for it.
“How can you be depressed in a pumpkin patch?” said Larry Vickerman, director at the gardens.
Along with the corn maze, live music and wagon rides, visitors can wander the patch and pick their own gourds and pumpkins to take home.
“This is probably one of the few places where you can come out here on 10 acres — I’ll guarantee you’ll find a pumpkin you really like,” Vickerman said.
Vickerman begins preparing for Pumpkin Festival in the winter, typically in January or February.
Many of the best seed varieties sell out by then, and securing a rich and healthy mix is paramount to his team.
“There are so many things that can happen to the crop,” Vickerman said, explaining that farmers at the gardens are responsible for protecting the plants from insects, disease and hail for months leading up to harvest.
The work is all worth it, he said, when he gets to share the fruits of that labor with the public.
“I always stand right here so I can throw the gate open on the first day and show them,” he said. “You know, there are some good ones over here. What are you looking for? Big? Small?”
After Pumpkin Festival 2025 wraps up, Vickerman said he will take a short break before beginning work on next year’s harvest.
Pumpkin Festival runs Oct. 10–12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Tickets are available in advance on the Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield Farms website.
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