That will affect some 112,000 San Francisco residents’ access to food in November.

“I think it’s important for each of us to show up for one another, for the community, to let people know that they are not alone, that we see them and that we are with them,” Stamps said.

Kisch said she started planning the festival a month and half ago, and when the government shutdown began on Oct. 1 she worried whether moving forward with it was “tone deaf.”

“But I kind of keep going back to the importance of joy as a form of resilience, and we’re not going to sacrifice one for the other,” she said. “We’re going to feed our families and we’re also going to have some fun.”

Saucy Fainga stumbled onto the pumpkin patch when she was on her way to the farmer’s market with her 1-year-old daughter, Reign.

Per Sia reads children’s books at the pumpkin patch festival at Civic Center in San Francisco on Oct. 29, 2025. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)

“My husband and I were literally just talking about how far we have to go to visit a pumpkin patch,” Fainga said. “I’m so glad I found this.”

She said she planned to come back with the rest of her family to take photos on a haystack positioned in front of City Hall and the inflatable marshmallow man from the “Ghostbusters” movies.

Other parents walked through the Tenderloin with their kids and teachers from GLIDE’s Family, Youth and Childcare Center to get to the festival.

Patrice Clark, a supervisor at the center, said she was glad they got to feel safe walking in the neighborhood.

Sarah Abdulla (center) accompanies her child’s elementary school class through Trick-or-Treat Lane at the pumpkin patch festival at Civic Center in San Francisco on Oct. 29, 2025. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)

“Parents rush through because they’re nervous about walking through their community,” she said.  

Clark hopes the experience empowers parents to take back the streets and lets kids feel a greater sense of belonging.

“Because we live in the Tenderloin and it has a bad rap, they still have a right to feel proud about where they go to school and where they live,” she said.