Families, volunteers, and local partners gathered at Millican Reserve for Pumpkinpalooza on October 24–25, 2026. The weekend brought familiar fall traditions and gave visitors a chance to explore more of the Reserve, including a scenic hayride connecting the Farm and lake.
The Farm was the central hub for Pumpkinpalooza, with pumpkin chunkin, a pumpkin patch, farm animals, live performances, games, and food trucks.
Jimmy the donkey, Pearl the miniature pony, and Hank the dog were familiar faces at the Farm. Ryleigh Carpenter and Allie Amoroso are students at Wellborn Middle School who volunteered to fulfill their National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) service requirements. They watched over Jimmy and Pearl and offered carrots to visitors who wanted to feed them. Both girls said their favorite part of the event was spending time with Jimmy.
Josh Hill is a firefighter for the city of Bryan who bought a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. He recently moved to the area, and because he loves autumn and the outdoors, he decided to attend Pumpkinpalooza. Even though Halloween is his favorite holiday, he likes how the event is tailored more towards the fall, making it an event that anyone can attend.
“This is more for everyone,” Hill said. “I’m just trying to explore and see what’s out there.”
The Farm also hosted live dance performances. Vivianna Massaro is the social media coordinator for the Texas A&M Ballroom Dance Association (BDA), which performed several dance routines at Pumpkinpalooza. She was accompanied by the performance team director, Jack Graham.
“Dance is very versatile and we want people to know about it,” Massaro said. “I thought we did pretty well…and we had a great time.”
The Pumpkin Games were the highlight of the weekend, according to Erin McFarlane, one of the staff members at Millican.
Emily Dunnebacke attended Pumpkinpalooza for the first time with her husband and her kids. As an avid Fall Festival attendee, Dunnebacke and her family drove past the event and decided to stop by. Her husband and son competed in the pumpkin games.
“I really love the corn and the bounce houses and ways to get candy,” Dunnebacke said. “Really just the kids playing outside and being free to bounce and play outdoors.”
Texas A&M sophomore Aidan Jordan was in charge of sign-ups for the Pumpkin Games, and he also helped tally up points to determine the winner. Jordan said he hopes that the kids continue to appreciate outdoor activities, especially if it involves having fun while doing something they are unfamiliar with.
“The most rewarding part is seeing all the people getting involved,” Jordan said. “I was standing out there dancing…and I had kids coming up to me and they were dancing and having fun. They didn’t have to do that. It wasn’t an activity. They just chose to do it. It’s cool to see that.”
Local and Texas-based food vendors joined the festivities.
Sarah Fletcher is the general manager for WildFlyer Mead & Beer Co, which has been at Pumpkinpalooza for around four years.
Among her favorite parts of the festival were “the people we get to meet and being able to tell people about our products because mead’s not something that is well-known,” Fletcher said.
Shayla Clifton is the owner of SoCo Sno, a College Station business selling shaved ice and snow cones. This is SoCo Sno’s third year at Pumpkinpalooza, and Clifton said she thinks this year has been the most successful.
“I love making people smile and seeing their reactions when they see our product come out of the window,” Clifton said. “Even though College Station has been trying to keep a small town…I think there is plenty to do and plenty of community to find here.”
Activities by the lake included fly-fishing, kayaking, paddleboarding and archery. Adam Shackelford was at Pumpkinpalooza representing Texas Archery alongside his archery partner, Brayden Evans. He has done archery for almost six years and is on the Texas A&M archery team.
“Archery is so amazing. It’s taught me so much,” Shackelford said. “We’ve had all ages come up to us and start shooting for the first time…I just hope that they have a fun time and a great experience doing this and they want to do it more.”
Tomi Leigh Quirk and her family have been attending Pumpkinpalooza for the past three years. They hoped to renew their Conservancy membership that day. Quirk said that she appreciates an event that is not tied to a school. She said her favorite part of the event was taking the hayride to go to the lake.
“It’s just fun to have something to go to with the whole family and have a fall-themed event,” Quirk said. “Anything in the area that’s outside and is fun for the whole family is really appealing to us… For Millican Reserve to set this up for families is really a treat.”
