The Cupertino Parks and Recreation Commission wrapped up its summer swim season on Sunday, Sept. 27, by hosting the city’s first “Pumpkin Pool-oza” from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Blackberry Farm.
The event featured a floating pumpkin patch, where attendees swam through the pool to pick pumpkins and later decorated them with stickers and markers at craft tables. Throughout the morning, participants also played lawn games such as cornhole and listened to festive music.
To source the pumpkins, the city evaluated quotes from different pumpkin patches before eventually partnering with Farmer John’s Pumpkin Farm for best deals and fast delivery. Staff set up the tables throughout the week before prepping the pools the night prior to the event. Pre-registration was required online via ActiveNetwork, with tickets priced at $14 for Cupertino residents and $18 for non-residents.
Cupertino resident Neeti Kadaruka brought her daughter to Pumpkin Pool-oza, saying she enjoyed the pre-Halloween pumpkin decorating and thought the event was well organized.
“This is something that I will let her other friends know about as well,” Kadaruka said. “It brings the community together, and it’s good to know that the city has some provisions for the kids as well. If you have something to keep them occupied for their time, it’s great.”
Kayla Nakamoto, a recreation coordinator with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, who helped plan the event, explained that the idea was inspired by similar autumn traditions from her hometown.
“This event is brand new to our department and city,” Nakamoto said. “It was a creative way to utilize the pumpkin fall theme with our pool while it was still open. I grew up in Roseville, where it’s super hot, and we always do a floating pumpkin patch. I was looking to bring that down here.”
For Nakamoto, seeing children swim alongside the pumpkins made the event preparation worthwhile, proving to her how simple activities can bring the local community closer together.
“Seeing how excited the little kids were to get in the water and swim around with a pumpkin was just a different experience than I thought I was going to get,” Nakamoto said. “At the craft and the decorating stations, I saw a couple of kids sharing stickers, and it sounds silly, but those are moments where maybe it’s a neighbor. I think that’s the piece of community building that is so valuable.”
A child places stickers on paper at one of the pumpkin decorating stations. Photo | Avnika Choudhury