It’s just not fall without a trip to the annual Dallas Arboretum pumpkin village! This is one of my favorite events of the whole year because the only thing I love as much as strolling through a beautiful garden is pumpkins. Named one of America’s best pumpkin festivals by Fodor’s, it’s always a delight to see the gardens decked out for fall. The theme of the this year’s pumpkin village is Bugtopia. I had a blast exploring everything Autumn at the Arboretum has to offer with my friend Caitlin today.

If, like me, you go to this event annually, you should know that the pumpkin village has been moved. It’s now on the east side of the garden with a view of the lake. After you enter the gate, you’ll follow the pumpkins to the right and then take pretty much the first left straight towards the water. (If you’re familiar with the Arboretum’s Christmas set up, you’ll basically take a left at the partridge in a pear tree display.)

The new location of the pumpkin village is quite a bit larger. The displays are spread out, leaving plenty of room for social distancing. The 16th annual pumpkin village has over 90,000 pumpkins, gourds, and squash, all grown in Texas, plus an 18-foot dragonfly, and 20-foot tall pumpkin houses. There’s a different photo op around every corner!

As a pumpkin enthusiast, one of my favorite additions this year is the Variety Patch where you can many different types of pumpkins. I’m obsessed with the white and orange striped pumpkins and I finally know the name: One Too Many. How cute is that!?

There’s a butterfly photo op this year that had me missing Dollywood’s Harvest Festival!

There’s also a hay maze for little pumpkins to enjoy and a pumpkin patch with pumpkins available for purchase.

One of my favorite photo ops every year is the bridge. There’s always a bridge in the pumpkin village with a “stream” of pumpkins and it’s so lovely!

Don’t forget to explore the rest of the gardens after enjoying the pumpkin village! In my opinion, fall is the best garden season of all in Texas and there’s never a better time to stroll through the grounds. Dallas Arboretum is bursting with color with more than 150,000 fall blooms and there are beautiful pumpkin displays through the main garden path.

Autumn at the Arboretum is presented by Reliant and runs September 18 – October 31, 2021. For more information, click here.