Little Pumpkin Harvest Fest @ WMH

In 2023, the Winchester Mystery House partnered with the Valle Monte League to put on a Little Pumpkin Harvest Fest; an old fashioned Halloween festival geared towards families. It was a perfect alternative for those who can’t go to Winchester’s haunt due to their little pumpkins. (or don’t want to attend because they’re scaredy cats like me…)

The Little Pumpkin Harvest Fest

The Little Pumpkin Harvest Fest was the first of it’s kind on the Winchester Mystery House property. At least to my knowledge since visiting Winchester consistently since September of 2020. We managed to convince one of Little Monster’s friends to join us with her mom and 2-year-old brother.

Before it began, attendees were encouraged to dress in costume to suit the mood. Upon entry, each child received a bag for collecting candy, a map of the route and ten tickets they could redeem at over 10 different activity stations. In summary, these stations included carnival games, face painting, a jump house and a giant bubble experience. When a child won a game, there was a prize bucket they could select a candy or trinket from. In addition to the carnival games, there were trick-or-treat stations, which did not require tickets. There were also several photo ops set up and even an area with Winchester coloring pages. Lastly, every child got to pick out, decorate and take home a pumpkin.

Additional Experiences

If your child wanted to do more activities beyond the 10 tickets they received, you could purchase additional tickets. I did purchase extra tickets at the time so my children could try everything. However, they weren’t strictly monitoring this and both my children and others were able to do more without having a ticket. Personally, this didn’t bother me as the money was all going to the Valle Monte League’s funds for mental health.

In addition to purchasing extra activity tickets, they also had a raffle for three carved pumpkins featuring the Winchester logo and two of it’s stained glass windows. Comparatively, my odds were great and I was one of the first names drawn. As a result, I got the first pick of the pumpkins. To no one’s surprise, I selected the cobweb window.

Would I bring my littles back to the Little Pumpkin Harvest Fest?

Even with the inconsistencies of their ticket system, I had already resolved to bring my children again if they brought it back. Spoiler alert, the following year, we did! Coincidently, we will be attending at the end of this October for the third time. It’s an extremely family-friendly event. In light of this, I have frequently offered for my children’s friends to join us with their families. The games are cute and simple for even the barely toddling (Lil’ Boo was three years old in 2023) and the candy is generous.

If you find yourself in San Jose on October 26th, consider this your invitation to join their Trick-or-Treat trail with your little monsters.

It is an honor to be amongst my fellow crypt keepers once more and I am so excited to see how everyone is sharing the Halloween magic throughout the month.