Huffhines Harvest Fest Turns 50 This October With Costumes, Cash Prizes, and a Kids' Market

A Half-Century of Fall at Huffhines Park

On a Saturday morning at Huffhines Park, 1500 Apollo Rd., the grass fills up fast. Folding chairs appear near the stage, dogs trot past on leashes, and the smell of whatever the food vendors are running drifts across the open lawn. That scene has played out every third weekend of October in Richardson for fifty years now, and this year it arrives with a milestone attached.

The Huffhines Harvest Fest celebrates its 50th anniversary on October 17–18, 2026, and the City of Richardson is keeping the event exactly as it has always been: free and open to everyone. Gates open Saturday at 10 a.m. and run until 6 p.m.; Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pawtoberfest Takes Center Stage

The festival’s most reliably chaotic and crowd-pleasing tradition is Pawtoberfest, the pet costume contest that has made Huffhines Harvest Fest something Richardson residents genuinely put on the calendar. This year’s contest is hosted by J-Si of The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show, and cash prizes go out to the winners on Sunday, October 18 at 2:30 p.m.

If you have ever watched a golden retriever in a hot dog costume accept applause with complete sincerity, you understand why this segment draws a crowd. The contest is competitive in the most good-natured sense — owners put real effort in, dogs are largely indifferent, and the audience is entirely on board.

The combination of a recognizable radio personality hosting and actual cash on the line gives the 2026 edition a little extra weight, fitting for a 50th anniversary.

The Kids’ Entrepreneur Market Returns Sunday

Sunday also brings one of the more quietly impressive additions to the Harvest Fest lineup: the Kids’ Entrepreneur Market, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Young vendors set up their own booths and sell products or services they have developed themselves. The market gives Richardson kids a real audience and a genuine transaction — not a school project in a classroom, but an actual market with actual customers.

For families attending the festival, it is worth walking through the market before the afternoon winds down. The range of what kids bring — baked goods, handmade crafts, small-batch products — tends to reflect how seriously the participants take the opportunity.

Fifty Years of the Same Idea Done Well

Huffhines Park has hosted this festival long enough that there are Richardson residents who attended as children and now bring their own kids. That kind of continuity is not accidental. The City of Richardson has kept the event free, kept it outdoors, and kept it grounded in the kind of programming that holds up across generations: live entertainment, community gathering space, and something specific enough — a pet costume contest, a children’s market — that it does not blur into every other fall event on the calendar.

The park itself, set along Apollo Road on the east side of town, has the room to absorb a crowd without feeling cramped. That physical reality matters for an event built around wandering, running into neighbors, and letting kids and dogs move at whatever pace they need.

What to Know Before You Go

Admission is free both days. The festival runs Saturday, October 17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, October 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Huffhines Park, 1500 Apollo Rd., Richardson.

The pet costume contest with cash prizes takes place Sunday at 2:30 p.m., hosted by J-Si of The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show. The Kids’ Entrepreneur Market runs the full length of Sunday’s hours.

For the most current information on programming, vendors, and any schedule updates, the official festival site at huffhinesharvestfest.com is the right place to check as the dates approach.

Fifty years is a long run for any community event. The fact that Huffhines Harvest Fest has held its form — free, family-oriented, anchored to this specific park on this specific weekend — says something about what Richardson has decided to keep.