Fall in Florida hits different.
There’s no foliage, it’s still eighty-five degrees in October, and nearly every pumpkin is trucked in from out of state.
But that hasn’t stopped a good crop of pumpkin patches from taking root around Sarasota. From a farm stand up Fruitville Road to a working dairy in Myakka City that fires a pumpkin cannon.
Below is every pumpkin patch, corn maze, and fall festival within an hour of Sarasota.
Each listing has dates, hours, and what you can expect.
Quick comparison
| Where | Cost | Corn maze |
|---|---|---|
| Fruitville Grove, Sarasota | $5 · 6 & under free | No |
| Hunsader Farms, Bradenton | $15 / $5 · cash only | Yes ($2) |
| Ananda Farm, Terra Ceia | $17.99+ | Flower maze |
| Dakin Dairy Farms, Myakka City | $20 | Yes |
| Pumpkin Patch at UTC, Sarasota | Free entry | No |
| Great Pumpkin Patch, Palmetto | Free entry | No |
| Sertoma Club patch, Bradenton | Free entry | No |
| Pumpkin Patch Express, Parrish | $35 / $31 | No |
Fruitville Grove Pumpkin Festival
The closest thing Sarasota has to a hometown fall tradition, now in its 38th year. And the best part is you won’t have to leave the city.
Every October weekend the grove opens up for a petting zoo, hayrides, pony rides, live music, and a haunted house.
They also have free circus performances at noon and 3pm, and costume contests on Saturdays. Rides and some activities cost extra, and most vendors are cash only.
If you’re strictly looking to pick a pumpkin, the farm market is open all week from 10am-5pm. So you can walk in on a weekday, pick a pumpkin, and skip the festival admission entirely.
Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival
This is the big one. Hunsader has been at it since 1992, and it’s the reason half the region drives to Bradenton every October.
Three weekends of hayrides, pony rides, a petting zoo, barnyard playground, pedal carts, scarecrow displays, and a Pioneer Trades Village with live demonstrations. The arena runs monster trucks, motorcycle stunt shows, and bluegrass.
There’s also a craft show, homemade ice cream, and farm-roasted sweet corn. The final Sunday, October 25, features kids and dog costume contests plus trick-or-treating through the grounds.
Two things to know before you go: Admission and parking are cash only, and several attractions also cost extra on top of admission. The corn maze is $2, the children’s train is $2, and the big train is $3.
Ananda Farm
One of the most photogenic patches in the area, sitting just south of the Skyway in north Manatee County.
The pumpkin patch is an actual field you wander through, with carving rounds, warty heirlooms, and minis all mixed in. Instead of a corn maze, theirs is cut through a standing field of sun hemp, six feet tall in places and in full yellow flower.
Beyond that it’s tractor rides around the property, pumpkin painting and other crafts on the weekends, and fall menus at all four of the farm’s kitchens.
If you want to leave with some flowers, the u-pick flower rows keep blooming through October too. It’s $25 extra, or $15 if you bring the bucket back.
Tickets are on sale now and the festival runs through Halloweene weekend.
Dakin Dairy Farms Harvest Festival
Dakin is an actual working dairy farm, and that changes the whole day.
You’re not just wandering a pumpkin lot. You’re hand-feeding cows from the back of a hayride, cuddling calves, and catching a real milking demonstration between activities.
The rest of the lineup leans delightfully weird with lawn mower races, a Moo Train, and a pumpkin cannon you can fire yourself.
Add a corn maze, food trucks, and live music, and the $20 admission starts to feel like a bargain.
Pumpkin Patch at UTC
The easy one if you’re already in town. Detwiler’s Farm Market sets up a pumpkin patch right on The Green at UTC, so you can grab a pumpkin between errands without driving out to a farm.
Don’t expect a full farm day. There are no hayrides or corn mazes here, just rows of pumpkins and hay bales. But every pumpkin you buy benefits Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Center in Lakewood Ranch, which shelters homeless and at-risk dogs and cats until they find forever homes.
Weekday hours start at 3pm, which makes it an easy after-school stop. Just don’t leave it for Halloween week, because the patch wraps up October 25.
The Great Pumpkin Patch of Palmetto
Palmetto’s free one, and it doesn’t feel like a compromise.
Forward Community Church sets out over 1,500 pumpkins with photo booths, kids games, hayrides, and themed weekends like costume parties and family movie nights on the lawn. Proceeds go to local schools, charities, and a medical mission in Kenya.
The best value on the list if you have young kids and no interest in paying admission to look at pumpkins.
The 2026 patch opens October 6 and runs daily from there, with weekday evening hours that make it an easy after-dinner pumpkin run.
Sertoma Club of Bradenton Pumpkin Patch
The community-lot patch Bradenton has been shopping for half a century, run by the local Sertoma service club on the school lawn two miles west of downtown.
The formula hasn’t changed in decades, because it doesn’t need to. Rows of pumpkins on the grass, evening hours all week, and every dollar going to local charities and scholarships.
This year is the 50th straight patch, and it runs right through Halloween night. Weekday hours stretch until 8pm, so it’s an easy after-dinner stop, and the club runs it alongside Detwiler’s Farm Market and the Manatee wrestling team.
Pumpkin Patch Express
The most genuinely different thing on this list, and in 2026 it only runs two weekends.
You board a vintage train at the Florida Railroad Museum and ride out to the museum’s own pumpkin patch, where there are hayrides, arts and crafts, Lincoln logs, and games. Every kid picks a pumpkin to bring home too.
Food and drink are available on board and at the patch. Coach and open-air cars are the entry point, with first-class and a private caboose costing more. Every child age 1 and up needs their own ticket, so there is no free lap seat for toddlers.
If this sounds like your jam, make sure to book well in advance. Tickets went on sale in July and this sells out every year.
Wrapping up
Fall in Florida is never going to look like the postcard version.
But between a festival in its 35th year with a corn maze and stunt shows, a dairy farm that lets you fire a pumpkin cannon, and free community lots you can hit on a weeknight, there’s a lot more here than a few pumpkins on a church lawn.
Before you head out, make sure you’ve got cash. Hunsader is cash-only for admission and parking, and most of the vendors at Fruitville Grove are too.
Now go find a good one.