Why Floydada, Texas Is The Pumpkin Capital Of The U.S.

Floydada has your pumpkins and pumpkin celebrations coming up!

Floydada, Texas is proud to call itself the “Pumpkin Capital of the U.S.”—or sometimes more modestly, the Pumpkin Capital of Texas—and for good reason. If you want to go fully pumpkin (or as locals insist: punkin) crazy, you couldn’t pick a better place.

One of the crown jewels of their pumpkin heritage is the Assiter Punkin Ranch & Pumpkin Patch, located about 11 miles south of Floydada on U.S. 62 / TX-207. At Assiter’s you’ll find all kinds of punkins—big ones, small ones; orange, white, red, green—plus painted ones too. It’s a working farm, open mid-September through Halloween, that offers retail, wholesale, tours, a petting zoo, and even a miniature train.

Celebrate Punkin Days in Floydada, the Pumpkin Capital of the U.S.

Then there’s the big annual celebration: Punkin Days Festival, held the second weekend in October, this year on Saturday October 11th. During Punkin Days the whole town gets in on it—festival booths, pumpkin decorating, games, raffles, pie-eating contests, BBQ and chili cook-offs, auctions for gigantic pumpkins, plus plenty of photo ops.

Locals insist on the spelling “punkin” (Uncle Slim is said to be behind that tradition) and it shows up everywhere—on the ranch, in the festival name, plucked into conversation. Whether you’re there to pick your perfect gourd, admire the harvest, or eat your weight in pumpkin pie, Floydada delivers. If you time your visit for Punkin Days at Assiter Punkin Ranch, expect a full autumn immersion.