Popular attraction brings in about 100,000 visitors

Published in the Oct. 15-28, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Staff Report

Photos courtesy Provacteur Media Visitors enjoy a train ride, carousel and thousands of pumpkins.

Photo courtesy Provacteur Media
Visitors enjoy a train ride, carousel and thousands of pumpkins.

Morgan Hill might one day squash Half Moon Bay’s self-proclaimed title as the Pumpkin Capital of the World. The Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Park has evolved into a favorite October-long tradition for Bay Area families with acres of rides and ag-themed amusements for kids and parents to spend a “gourd-jus” autumn afternoon together.

For the entire month of October, Pumpkin Park brings in between 80,000 to 100,000 visitors who explore the wonders of the world of pumpkins. On the coast in San Mateo County, the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival draws about 20,000 visitors during two days.

“Half Moon Bay has been getting a lot of press for their pumpkin festival year after year, but in fact Uesugi Farms has 43 acres of all these crazy attractions,” said Rebecca Eisenberg, public relations representative for the Aiello family which own and operate the annual Pumpkin Park. “And they’re open for the entire month of October which is a lot longer than the (weekend) Half Moon Bay Festival.”

Photos courtesy Provacteur Media Visitors enjoy a train ride, carousel and thousands of pumpkins.

Photoscourtesy Provacteur Media
Visitors learn about farm industry at Pumpkin Park.

Last October, Pumpkin Park received national attention when Napa pumpkin grower Tim Mathison won the weigh-off contest for the world’s biggest pumpkin at the theme park. The farmer’s massive orange veggie came in at 2,032 pounds and won him $30,000. The farm is one of five Great Pumpkin Commonwealth-sanctioned weigh-offs in California. Half Moon Bay and Elk Grove offer $6 a pound for the heavy-weight pumpkins, but Uesugi pays $7 a pound, thus attracting the heavy-weight hitters. Uesugi Farms keeps the winning pumpkins and turns into grotesque-faced sculptures that are showcased at the annual Safe Night Trick-or-Treat event on Halloween evening in downtown Morgan Hill.

In 1979, Joe Aiello bought the Uesugi Farm just south of Morgan Hill on Monterey Road and kept the name of the prior owner, Eisenberg said.

The Aiello’s developed the pumpkin theme park over the last 29 years and draws the crowds seven days a week with attractions that include a rail train that pulls adults and children through the park. The park offers a choice of two nostalgic rides aboard its Allan Herschell Iron Horse or its blue and yellow Arrow Streamliner trains.

Besides train rides, visitors enjoy a children’s corn maze, a hay ride, a paintball ride, a hay jump, and a carousel.

“They have the pumpkin blasters that can shoot at targets with these miniature pumpkins at 90 miles per hour which is pretty amazing to see,” Eisenberg said. “They also have a two-acre corn maze called Kayla’s Korn Maze with interactive tribute cards. If you get the answer right, you progress through the corn maze and get out, and if you get the answer wrong, you get totally lost. But don’t worry, there are ‘corn cops’ who help people navigate people through and help you if you get stuck.”

The centerpiece of the Pumpkin Park is a massive Pumpkin Pyramid made out of 4,000 pumpkins. Visitors sit on a throne in front of the pyramid and have their pictures taken.

Education of the farming industry is also a priority for the Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Park experience, she said. The park offers a Pumpkin Lab where children learn how to grow a pumpkin, a Butterfly Valley to learn about the flying insects world, and Bootsie the Bee’s Honey Hut to learn about bee facts. The park also does school tours during the week with about 15,000 students visiting each year.

On weekends, musicians and performers entertain the crowds. Classic rock and roll mixes with mariachi music to give visitors a tune to listen to as they choose the perfect pumpkin.

Although the Pumpkin Park is a focus in the fall, the Aiello family farms about 5,000 acres in California and Mexico to supply the West Coast with peppers, strawberries, Napa cabbage, pumpkins, corn and various other vegetables.