PUMPKIN CO.Why October runs out faster than it looks.
One month, about 22 weekdays, and four or five weekends. Every fall event in your township is drawing from the same short list.
October holds roughly 22 weekdays and four or five weekends, and school fall events all compete for them. A Penn Pumpkin Co party runs 60 minutes for up to 50 children or 90 minutes for up to 100, indoors or out, and a $250 deposit holds the date.
The arithmetic nobody does in June.
A Pennsylvania school year opens in late August or early September, and the first weeks go on settling in. That leaves October as the first full month with everything properly under way, and it is the month the weather suits too.
Then the month gets shorter. Many districts place an in-service day or parent conferences in late October or early November. Check your own district calendar, since they differ across the five counties. Homecoming takes a weekend. Halloween itself takes the 31st, and the days either side of it are rarely quiet.
A couple of usable weeks are left, and every other group planning something wants them too.
Fitting a party into a school day.
Our two packages are 60 minutes for up to 50 children and 90 minutes for up to 100. A school day has to absorb one of those two lengths, and there are three ways it can fit.
- Inside a specials or activity block. If your blocks run 45 minutes, a 60-minute party crosses two of them, so the rotation matters more than the start time.
- Across a lunch and recess window. The 90-minute package needs a window about that long, or a half-day.
- After dismissal, as a family event. A different audience, with parents there alongside the children.
If the day will not bend, extra time is $75 per additional 30 minutes, which covers more class groups without a second booking. Both party packages, with prices and extras.
The space, and the weather.
We recommend about 30 by 30, and it is flexible. Blacktop, a field, a lot, a gym, or a hall all work, and indoors is fine. The straw is realistic-looking but not real, so an indoor booking leaves your floor clean.
Light rain is fine and the party runs. We do not hold rain dates. Beyond light rain we reschedule, and your deposit moves with the booking as credit that is good for two years.
That matters more in October than in any other month. A reschedule inside a full month is hard for everyone, so a date earlier in the window is the safer one to take.
Holding the date.
A $250 deposit holds a party date, and it is credited against the final invoice. Purchase orders are accepted and we invoice on net 30 terms, so the paperwork can follow while the date sits reserved.
Insurance, purchase orders, and payment terms are set out in full. Schools, daycares, PTOs, churches, offices, and senior living each ask something different first.
What schools ask about October.
How long does a pumpkin-patch party take?
Sixty minutes for up to 50 children, or 90 minutes for up to 100. Extra time is $75 per additional 30 minutes, which stretches a party across more class groups.
Can a pumpkin patch party run indoors?
Yes. Indoors is fine, and the straw we use is realistic-looking but not real, so a gym or a hall is left clean.
What happens if it rains on the day of a school event?
Light rain is fine and the party runs. We do not hold rain dates, so beyond light rain we reschedule, and the deposit moves with the booking as credit that is good for two years.
How much space does a school need to provide?
About 30 by 30 is our recommended minimum, and it is flexible. Blacktop, a field, a lot, a gym, or a hall all work.
More in this guide.
The full guide is The fall decorating calendar for the Philadelphia suburbs, which covers the lot in one place.
October is short. Ask early.
Send the date, the headcount, and the space, and we will come back with a quote.
Check a date