Where does a town with no autumn get a pumpkin patch? In Dorado, it gets one from a working farm on PR-694 that raises pasture-fed beef, lamb, pork and poultry, and from a market that shows up in the town plaza on the third Saturday of each month. Neither one is a resort amenity. Put them together and you have a fall season with a set number of days and one clear peak.
Eighteen Days on PR-694
Calabazas PR Fest opened its 2026 season on October 2 at Finca Pastoreo, Bo. Maguayo, PR-694 Km 5.5. The official site lists 18 season days and more than 50 pumpkin varieties. todoPR lists it as a Friday-through-Sunday event. That matches the count, since the six weekends from October 2 through November 8 add up to exactly 18 days. Discover Puerto Rico's listing calls the festival "recurring daily" and includes weekday dates, so confirm a weekday on the booking page before you plan around it.
This is the third season. Platea reported the 2025 festival as the second edition, after a first run in 2024. That year it ran October 5 through November 3, from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. For 2026, the official site again gives 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Third-party listings say 5:30 p.m., so plan on leaving by the earlier time.
On the Friday-through-Sunday schedule, five weekends remain after this one as of today, Sunday, October 4:
- October 9 to 11
- October 16 to 18
- October 23 to 25
- October 30 to November 1
- November 6 to 8
Those five weekends hold 15 of the 18 days. Tickets are sold online for a set arrival date and time, with payment processed through Stripe. That makes the festival more of a reservation than a drop-in, and the late-October Saturdays are the obvious ones to book early.
What the Ticket Buys
todoPR lists admission at $23 for adults, $16 for children ages 3 to 12, $15 for seniors, and free for children 2 and under. Platea's October 2026 events roundup lists tickets "from $16." Prices come from those listings, so check the booking page before you go.
The official site sorts the day into what the ticket covers and what costs extra:
| Included with every paid ticket | Extra purchase, or included once with a Premium ticket |
|---|---|
| Hay tower, pumpkin patch, the pumpkin house, the corn pool | Pumpkin Spice Soft Serve by Softy, served in a pumpkin |
| Painting a pumpkin and taking it home | Roasted corn on the cob |
| Swings and children's games | |
| One popcorn or one cotton candy |
For a family of four, two adults and two children in the 3 to 12 range come to $78 at the listed prices before any soft serve. For one pumpkin and a few hours in a field, that sets the price of a Dorado fall afternoon. Discover Puerto Rico's listing also mentions a maze, themed photo stations and food kiosks. The official site's list of what's included names none of those three, so don't count on them.
The Farm Under the Festival
The pumpkin field takes up a few weeks a year. The rest of the year, the same address is a farm with a store and its own schedule, and that schedule outlasts November 8.
Finca Pastoreo sells pasture-raised eggs, beef, lamb, pork and poultry, along with a grocery section of local products. Customers can order online and pick up at the farm store, which is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farm also delivers islandwide with a $49 minimum and a $12 shipping charge. Delivery is free on orders over $99.
Three more reasons to drive out on PR-694 when there are no pumpkins:
- Farm tours depart Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and last about an hour. The farm books them through Viator and TripAdvisor, and private events go through the farm's phone line.
- Wood-fired pizza made with house mozzarella. The farm's site lists Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 4 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. The tour listing gives different hours, so call before you plan dinner around it.
- A direct line at 787-427-9305 for anything the website does not answer.
The festival and the farm lead to each other. A family that comes for pumpkins in October learns where the Tuesday-through-Saturday farm store is. A store regular already knows the address when the pumpkin field returns the next fall.
A note on the drive. In July, the municipality began a $645,320 road-rehabilitation program. It listed PR-694 in Maguayo and several stretches of PR-693 as upcoming paving sites. R.O. Construction is doing the work and is also building a roundabout where PR-693 meets PR-694. That July report did not give a completion date, so allow a little extra time on a Saturday.
The Plaza Takes the Pumpkin to Town
The second half of Dorado's fall happens in town. Dorado Fresh is the Dorado edition of the Mercado Local series, held on the third Saturday of each month at Plaza Pública de Dorado from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. TeleOnce named Gali Galarza as its producer and previewed a July 11 edition with more than 85 local entrepreneurs expected.
The October 17 edition has a theme. Mercado Local PR is calling it the Calabaza Market, the second part of its Festival de la Calabaza, with more than 40 pumpkin-based foods, breads and desserts. Part one was held today, October 4, at Santurce Fresh on Avenida Ponce de León. WAPA described more than 30 pumpkin dishes there, including pumpkin arepas, pernil sandwiches on pumpkin bread, and pumpkin cinnamon rolls. No vendor list has been published for the Dorado edition. Expect more than the Santurce count, but don't expect the same menu.
Entry is free. The market listing says vendors take cash, ATH Móvil, debit and credit cards, and PayPal or transfers. The next two dates are November 21 and December 19, with the same 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. hours.
October 16 to 18 Is the Weekend That Stacks
All of this comes together on one weekend. Calabazas PR Fest is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Dorado Fresh fills the plaza on Saturday. On Sunday, the municipality holds the Festival de Campo y Pueblo at 1 p.m. in Área La Marina, along the Río La Plata.
The Sunday lineup is local music. The flyer lists Víctor García y la Sonora Sanjuanera, Los Sabrosos del Merengue "El Reencuentro," Karas Nuevas, and Ramón Rodríguez "El Clásico." Parking is free, with transportation from the Gran Parque Agroturístico.
Here is one way to lay out the three days:
- Friday: Calabazas PR Fest with a 10:30 a.m. arrival. Book the time slot ahead.
- Saturday: Plaza Pública for the Calabaza Market in the morning, then pizza at Finca Pastoreo if the kitchen confirms its Saturday hours.
- Sunday: Park at the Gran Parque, take the shuttle down to the Marina, and spend the afternoon by the river with the four-act lineup.
The following weekend adds one more stop. The 42nd Clásico de Aguja Azul is on the municipal calendar for Friday, October 23, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Villa Pesquera. Like the farm, the market and the riverside festival, it is a town event. For the rest of the town's calendar, our earlier read on a Dorado weekend off the resort covers Gran Parque and the plaza in more depth. Our Dorado Beach East neighborhood page covers the gated side of town.
The pumpkin field closes November 8. After that, the farm store keeps its Tuesday-through-Saturday hours on PR-694, and Dorado Fresh comes back to Plaza Pública on November 21.
The Colectivo Group works in Dorado every week, and the farm roads and town events are part of how we explain this market. If you are weighing a home within easy reach of the Maguayo side of town, schedule a private showing and we will build the visit around a weekend like this one.
