How does a town start a tradition it hopes will last for decades? The Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce is starting with its youngest residents and a can of soup. On Saturday, October 10, the inaugural Pleasant Hill Harvest Festival opens on Crescent Drive. The first thing to move down the street will be a procession of children carrying non-perishable food for the Food Pantry at Hillcrest Congregational Church.
The order of events tells you a lot about the festival. Very little of it comes from outside Pleasant Hill. Local preschools and Transitional Kindergarten programs lead it off. The Diablo Valley College Music Program opens the stage. Downtown's restaurants and merchants are part of the festival itself, with no fence separating them from it. A first-year event usually borrows a fair's template. This one is built from what's already on the street.
Saturday, October 10, Hour by Hour
The day already has a structure, and it starts earlier than the festival does. The Pleasant Hill Farmers' Market runs year-round at City Hall every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and October 10 is on its 2026 schedule. That gives Saturday a morning at the market and an afternoon and evening on Crescent Drive.
| Time | Where | What |
|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | City Hall | Pleasant Hill Farmers' Market, regular Saturday hours |
| 10:45 a.m. | Plaza near Jack's Restaurant | Stampede staging |
| 11:15 a.m. | Crescent Drive to the Community Stage beneath the Pleasant Hill Arch | Stampede procession |
| Noon to 9 p.m. | Crescent Drive | Harvest Festival, free admission |
| 1:45 to 3:00 p.m. | Back Forty stage | Diablo Valley College Music Program |
| 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. | Back Forty stage | Spinout |
| 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. | Back Forty stage | Fire Peach |
| 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. | Back Forty stage | Zebop!, a Santana tribute |
The published times differ by an hour. The Chamber's festival page lists 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. A Chamber-written announcement in the Contra Costa Herald on October 4 says the festival officially opens at noon, after the Stampede reaches the stage. The October 4 version is the newer one, and its noon opening matches the Stampede schedule. Anyone planning around the opening should check with the Chamber that morning.
Why the Day Opens With Children and a Pantry
The Stampede is not a race. Children are encouraged to show up in cowboy hats, cow ears, bandanas, or other western or harvest costumes. They parade from the plaza near Jack's Restaurant down Crescent Drive to the Community Stage beneath the Pleasant Hill Arch. The only requirement to take part is a donation of non-perishable food for the Hillcrest Congregational Church pantry. The Chamber's Stampede page describes those donations as standing in for an entry fee.
The Chamber has asked local schools to collect food in the weeks before the event so classes can arrive with their donations together. That turns the opening parade into a community-wide food drive. Families can register through participating schools or directly with the Chamber. The Chamber's deadline for organizations to register was Friday, September 18.
The Chamber's executive director, identified in the announcement only as Jeremy, explained the reasoning plainly. He hopes some of the children in the first Stampede will "eventually return with children of their own." The Chamber plans to make the festival and the Stampede annual events, with local children ceremonially opening the festival each year.
"We want to create something that feels distinctly Pleasant Hill and that families will look forward to year after year. This October is the beginning of that tradition." Alex Khodadad, Chairman of the Board, Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce
The theme also comes from local history. The Chamber says the festival draws on Pleasant Hill's agricultural past, when orchards, farms, and harvest seasons were part of the landscape, and brings that idea into today's downtown.
A Festival Designed Around the Storefronts
The first year is concentrated along Crescent Drive. It's laid out as one walkable stretch connecting the Community Stage, family activities, artisan vendors, restaurants, merchants, and gathering spaces. According to the Chamber, the goal is to get visitors eating, shopping, and exploring all over Downtown Pleasant Hill, so the festival and the business district don't compete for the same afternoon.
The festival's own program adds a lot to that base:
- A pumpkin patch and a pumpkin decorating competition
- A petting zoo, face painting, and balloon artists
- Midway games and rock climbing
- Artisan vendors and seasonal displays
- Beer and wine
Admission is free. Some activities and drinks need tickets bought separately. The Chamber's festival, stage, and Stampede pages don't list ticket prices, street closures, or parking plans. Those details are best confirmed with the Chamber at (925) 687-0700 before heading downtown.
The format isn't new to this stretch of town. A City Manager's memo from October 2011 called the downtown Art, Jazz & Wine Fest, then in its ninth year, the Chamber's largest event of the year. The Harvest Festival is billed as a first-ever event, and its focus on harvest history and a children's food drive gives it a different starting point.
It also lands while downtown waits on its next big tenant. Osaka Marketplace, a planned Japanese grocery and food hall of about 42,000 square feet, is going into 155 Crescent Plaza, the former Orchard Supply Hardware building. Osaka has started hiring for Pleasant Hill, but the Downtown Pleasant Hill directory still lists it as "Coming Soon," and no opening date had been announced as of mid-September.
The Rest of October Stays Small
The festival sets the tone for the month, and the events after it keep to the same scale. They're free, close to home, and aimed at families.
- Haunted Trail, Friday, October 23, 5 to 7 p.m., Pleasant Hill Park, 147 Gregory Lane. The Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District sets up themed tables and booths along the path, from ghostly graveyards to witches' cauldrons. Children can trick-or-treat at every stop, and there's a monster freeze-dance competition. It's free, no registration is needed, costumes are strongly encouraged, and parking will be limited.
- Downtown Pleasant Hill Halloween Spooktacular, Saturday, October 31, noon to 2 p.m., near Crescent Bistro. The listing includes chalk art, a kids' Chalk Zone, a photo booth, face painting, balloon art, and treat bags.
So the month opens and closes on the same downtown blocks. The Harvest Festival brings the crowd to Crescent Drive on October 10, and the Spooktacular brings families back near Crescent Bistro on Halloween afternoon. The Haunted Trail on Gregory Lane falls in between.
One Detour for Trail Users This Fall
People who walk or ride the Iron Horse Trail south toward Walnut Creek will hit a change starting this week. Contra Costa County is rehabilitating the Robert I. Schroder Pedestrian Bridge over Treat Boulevard, east of Jones Road, from Monday, October 5, through Thursday, December 31, 2026. While the bridge is closed, trail traffic will be sent to the Treat Boulevard street crossing. The county also plans night work, occasional lane closures, and about four overnight road closures, with dates still to be posted. That covers every fall weekend from the Harvest Festival through the end of the year.
For the Harvest Festival, the dates to keep are the 10:45 a.m. Stampede staging at the plaza near Jack's Restaurant on October 10, the Haunted Trail on October 23, and the Spooktacular on October 31.
At The Beaubelle Group, we follow Pleasant Hill's calendar the way neighbors do, from new traditions on Crescent Drive to the projects that change a weekend route. If you're thinking about what this year's changes downtown mean for your own home, we'd be glad to talk it through. Request a Complimentary Home Valuation whenever it's useful to you.
