The scales open at 7 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, in the I.D.E.S. parking lot at 735 Main Street, and watching costs nothing. The 53rd Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off falls on a workday, five days before the crowds arrive. Organizers expect the weighing to wrap up around 11 a.m.

The Art & Pumpkin Festival everyone else plans around lasts two days, Oct. 17 and 18. The season around it is much longer. Lemos Farm's patch alone runs from Sept. 5 to Nov. 15. Most of pumpkin season falls outside festival weekend, and those weeks fit around a Coastside work schedule. The weekend itself is mostly a question of how to get around town while Main Street is closed.

The Monday weigh-off has real stakes this year

The weigh-off draws serious growers, and the numbers show what they're chasing. Here are the benchmarks going into Monday.

Last year's winner came in more than 400 pounds under the event record. The gap between Gienger's 2023 Half Moon Bay mark and the world record is about 70 pounds. Before this year's weigh-off, festival spokesperson Ronan Fowler told KQED that one grower had a very large pumpkin that could challenge the record if growing conditions cooperated. He didn't name the grower or give a weight. As of this writing, the official weigh-off site still lists the 2025 results. That's where the 2026 numbers will be posted.

The weigh-off happens on Main Street with no closures, no shuttle plan and no Highway 92 warnings. Of all the big events in Half Moon Bay's pumpkin season, it's the easiest to get to.

The festival weekend pays for things in town

That ease matters because the weekend is harder, and it helps to know why the town puts up with it. The festival began in 1971, organized by what was then the Main Street Beautification Committee, as a way to restore historic downtown Half Moon Bay. That first year, volunteers painted buildings and planted trees. According to the organizers, the festival has since raised several million dollars for civic projects and Coastside community service organizations. Safeway has been the presenting sponsor since 1990.

The fundraising shows up in practical ways. Local nonprofit groups run many of the festival parking lots and charge a small fee. Coastside on Bikes and Straight Wheel Cycling run bicycle and stroller parking in the Straight Wheel Cycling lot at Kelly and Purissima, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, with a suggested $5 donation. A Saturday parking fee goes to a local cause.

The 2026 program has a few new details. Former San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo is honorary grand marshal of the Great Pumpkin Parade, which starts at noon Saturday. The Senior Coastsiders Pumpkin Run is Sunday. The Harvest Moon Lounge is at Kelly and Main, near a new wine booth run by the Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce. Hours both days are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free.

How the streets work Oct. 17–18

The festival's posted plan comes down to a few rules. They matter most for anyone who has to drive somewhere that weekend.

1. Main Street closes to cars from Mill Street south to Monte Vista Lane for the whole weekend. It reopens around 10 p.m. Sunday.
2. Southbound Main Street is blocked at Highway 92 starting around 7 a.m. Saturday.
3. You can't reach eastbound Highway 92 from Main Street, whether you come from the north or the south. Eastbound 92 is reachable only from Highway 1.
4. Ride-share and paratransit pickup is in the Shoreline Station lot at Highway 1 and Kelly Avenue. Marked accessible parking is on Purissima Street between Correas Street and Kelly Avenue.

The closed blocks are longer than the festival itself. The organizers describe the event area as Main Street between Miramontes and Spruce, while the road closure runs from Mill to Monte Vista. If you live or run errands near Mill Street or Monte Vista Lane, you'll be behind the barricades even if you're blocks from the booths.

Organizers expect Highway 92 to back up by 8 a.m. both days. They suggest visitors use Highway 1 through Pacifica from the north, or Highway 84 through Woodside and La Honda from the south. Fowler gave KQED the same advice for South Bay and much of the Peninsula: head south on Highway 1 and take Highway 84 instead of joining the line on 92. He also said Sunday should be less crowded than Saturday, though that isn't guaranteed. He suggested arriving early and avoiding the 5 p.m. rush out. For a resident, that 5 p.m. exit wave is the time to stay off the main roads.

SamTrans serves the festival and usually runs special event routes, but KQED notes the buses can get stuck in the same traffic. The festival's transit page lists SamTrans contact information but hasn't posted 2026 route numbers.

The patches run on weekdays

The closure rules only apply for two days, but the farms are open for weeks, and weekdays are the easy way to visit. Here's how three of them describe their 2026 seasons.

Lemos runs into mid-November, and the Andreotti sunflower field stays open until Nov. 20. So the farm season keeps going for weeks after the parade. The San Francisco Peninsula visitor guide also lists Arata's Pumpkin Farm and Pastorino Farms among the area's fall farms. Neither had confirmed 2026 hours in the sources we checked, so call ahead before you go.

The work on Highway 1 keeps going after the festival

The festival closures end at 10 p.m. Sunday, but Highway 1 doesn't go back to normal. Caltrans' $46.7 million rehabilitation project covers 7.3 miles from Marine Boulevard in Moss Beach to Wavecrest Road in Half Moon Bay. It includes repaving, buffered bike lanes and better access at Surfer's Beach. Curb-ramp work was scheduled to begin Nov. 3, 2025. That's the stretch the festival recommends to visitors coming from the north.

In its August 2026 update, Caltrans expected final paving to finish by the end of August and signal upgrades to continue through 2026. Permanent bike-lane striping and guardrail upgrades were still to come, and the project was still targeting completion in summer 2027. That update also warned of overnight delays from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., occasional closures starting at 6 p.m., and daytime closures on short notice. Caltrans did pause work over Memorial Day weekend. We found no notice saying it will do the same for festival weekend.

Parking at Surfer's Beach is the next date to watch. The new bike lane replaces the eight-foot shoulder there. Caltrans' project page says the agency has to provide at least 75 free public parking spaces nearby. The Half Moon Bay Review reported that the Coastal Commission approved a concept for a replacement lot of about 70,500 square feet, roughly 0.3 miles away, with about 114 spaces, including 15 for RVs. The Review reported a Nov. 14, 2026 deadline to finish the lot. When the Review reported it, the lot still needed permits, engineering, environmental review and traffic studies.

Planning a Coastside sale around the fall calendar works the same way as planning a Saturday around Main Street's closure. The road closures, the 5 p.m. traffic and a Nov. 14 parking deadline all affect when buyers actually show up. The Palermo Properties Team works from our Half Moon Bay office and times every listing launch around local dates like these. Request a Strategic Market Plan, and we'll show you how this fall's Coastside calendar affects your timing.