What to Sink Your Teeth Into at the Pumpkin Festival

While pumpkin plays a starring role in most of the food at Half Moon Bay’s annual Art & Pumpkin Festival, there is certainly plenty of other sweet and savory home-style dishes to sink your teeth into that showcases the region’s local fare, from Portuguese linguisa and clam chowder to tamales and sautéed artichoke hearts.

Here’s what’s on the menu at the 43rd annual festival, October 19-20, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on historic Main Street, served up by local nonprofit groups raising funds for their cause: 

Pumpkin Pancakes - Start the day with the Half Moon Bay High School Basketball Team’s hearty stack of Half Moon Bay’s famous pumpkin pancakes, served with sausage, fresh orange juice, and coffee. They start serving at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Mac Dutra Park on Main Street.

Pumpkin Rolls - The local 4-H club is renown for their melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin rolls. The tangy crème-filled confections are such a big hit, the young people also sell the recipe.

Pumpkin Bread - AAUW will be serving its delicious, all-natural pumpkin bread, by the slice or loaf, using the revered “Grandma” recipe, and their heavenly, sweet sticky buns.

Pumpkin Pie - The Beautification Committee will be dishing up slices of the pumpkin pie layered with a healthy dose of whipped cream.

Pumpkin Ice Cream - Enjoy your pie a la mode with a scoop of pumpkin ice cream from the Episcopal Church booth.

Pumpkin Cheesecake – Rich pumpkin cheesecake whipped up by the San Mateo County Sheriff Explorers. 

Pumpkin Spice Cookies and Pumpkin Seeds - Monster 8” pumpkin cookies and roasted pumpkin seeds by the Coastside Land Trust.

Pumpkin Pie Fudge - Help raise money for local scholarships with the Pilarcitos Rebekah Lodge #286’s pumpkin pie fudge.

Pumpkin Smoothies - Blended by Half Moon Bay High School Water Polo team.

Pumpkin Churros – Sweetly spiced churros from the High School Athletic Trainers program.

Pretzels and Pumpkin Dipping Sauce – New this year, warm pretzels with your choice of pumpkin dipping sauce, cheese or mustard, from Holy Family Children’s Center.

Brussels Sprouts  & Artichokes Hearts - The Knights of Columbus cook up the sprouts in a zesty marinara sauce and after removing the leaves and prickly hairs, the artichokes are steamed leaving just the delicate hearts which are then sautéed in an aromatic blend of garlic, olive oil and herbs.

Clam Chowder in Bread Bowls - Honoring the area’s rich maritime history, Half Moon Bay Rotary Club will be selling chunky clam chowder in crunchy sourdough bread bowls.

Garlic Fries - Don’t miss the to-die-for garlic fries drizzled with olive oil, minced garlic and parsley by the Boy Scouts.

Kettle Corn – Special from the Half Moon Bay High School Lady Cougar Basketball team.

Popcorn – Enjoy freshly popped popcorn from Seacrest School.

Sausage - For something hearty, grab one of the designer sausages from the Half Moon Bay Vaulters.

Corn Dogs – Served up by the Girls Softball Club.

Bake Potatoes - High School Music Boosters will fill you up with their huge baked potatoes with all the trimmings—butter, sour cream, grated parmesan cheese, green onions, chives, bacon bits and pumpkin curry for those looking to spice things up.

Tamales - Try the Cougar Boosters super delicious chicken, beef and pork tamales. 

Nachos & Chili - Coastside Lutheran Church’s nachos smothered with cheese and spiced up with jalapeños or their bowl of zesty chili. 

Root Beer Float - Cool off with a root beer float from by the Volunteer Fire Department.

Macaroni and Cheese - Mariner’s Church Coastside version of macaroni and cheese—flavored with pumpkin pie spices and topped with pumpkin seeds.

BBQ Linguisa - Portuguese linguisa, jumbo hot dogs, Italian sausages and chicken pumpkin sausages grilled by the Beautification Committee. 

Beef Sandwiches - Hot beef sandwiches on a soft roll by IDES Society.

Roasted Turkey Leg - Marinated in special soy and red wine sauce or a grilled turkey sandwich on a hoagie roll by the Methodist Church.

Hamburger and Hotdogs - The Lions Club and American Legion both fire up the grill all weekend for their tasty hamburgers and sausages.

Italian and Polish Sausage Sandwiches  - The gourmands from the Coastside Adult Day Health Center dress their Italian and Polish sausage sandwiches up with a zesty marinara sauce. 

What’s your most favorite thing to eat at the annual Pumpkin Festival? Tell us what you look forward to sinking your teeth into at the festival every year in the comments section below.