Picture it. Manatee County in 1991.

A 10-month-old baby girl leans forward in her stroller, facing a tall, smiling scarecrow. She looks up at the camera.

That baby is Rachel Hunsader at her family's first-ever Pumpkin Festival in Manatee County.

Today, the now 24-year-old runs the family’s produce farm market when she is not helping prepare for their annual tradition.

The event happens over the last three weekends in October, and involves everything from a pumpkin cannon to farm-roasted sweet corn and live music.

"I always helped out a little,” said Hunsader. “Ever since I was, like, maybe 8-years-old.”

One of Hunsader’s first jobs at the festival was working the corn maze.

“It used to be smaller,” she said.

This year the now seven-acre maze has a design celebrating the 25th anniversary of the festival — a pumpkin carved into the crop along with the words 25th Annual.

"It can take up to 45 minutes,” said Hunsader. And if maze-goers get lost, there are people waiting to help them through or out.

As the maze has grown, so have the number of festival goers, with about 100,000 people visiting over the three weekend event.

And one of the festival’s favorite draws — feeding time in the farm’s petting zoo. Guess what kids like feeding the most: other ‘kids.’

"They're more interested in the goats,” laughed Hunsader. “We have a camel over there, and we have lemurs, and when we ask ‘What was your favorite?’ they say ‘The goats.’"

Human kids also get a kick out picking their very own pumpkins. Hunsader says they have more than 5,000 of the festival's namesake on hand, and they will usually run out.

That’s a lot of jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin pies and patrons.

"We like to see families come out here and people say that they've been coming out since they were kids - now they are bringing their kids," said Hunsader.


The details: Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival

  • Location: 5500 C.R. 675, Bradenton
  • Cost: $10 admission, $5 parking
  • Hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Fun: Hay rides, pumpkin patches, petting zoo, animal education shows, roasted sweet corn and lots of other food choices, craft booths, monster truck and FMX Motocross show
  • FYI: If you pick up a Pumpkin Festival T-shirt, Rachel created the design. She studied photography and graphic design at USF.