Oxfordshire Pumpkin Festival 2026

We're excited to announce our annual Oxfordshire Pumpkin Festival will take place from Saturday 17 October - Sunday 1 November.

Each year a terrifying 18,000 tonnes of perfectly edible pumpkins end up being thrown away in the UK. That amounts to approximately 1,500 double-decker buses. At Good Food Oxfordshire, we think that’s scary and each year, we do what we can to help reduce Oxfordshire’s wasted squashes. This is why, in 2014, we piloted the very first Pumpkin Festival to squash food waste. 

The festival’s initial success and compelling message inspired the national Pumpkin Rescue campaign, and each year, we continue to do what we can to help reduce Oxfordshire’s wasted squashes. Whether it’s painting instead of carving them or using up every scrap in a soup recipe, we’ve got you covered.

Ways you can get involved: 

- Join a pumpkin-rescue event near you

- Share your favourite pumpkin or squash recipes on social media

- Share our social media posts about Oxfordshire Pumpkin Festival (using #EatYourPumpkin and #PumpkinRescue)

- Donations to ‘top up’ our mini grants of £100 to local organisations to run events on reducing pumpkin waste 

Want to host a community event?

If you are a local community group with an event idea to squash food waste, please share your event with us by filling out this form and we'll share information about it below! This year, we will give 10 community groups £100 each to spend on hosting an event specifically about reducing pumpkin waste. The deadline to apply is 4 October. These mini-grants will be distributed to ensure a fair spread across the county. 

Sign up with your event

Resources

Check out our free pumpkin recipes below to help give ideas of what to cook, and help reduce your food waste.

About the Oxfordshire Pumpkin Festival

Information and enquiries: mail@gfo.org.uk

Organisers: Oxfordshire Pumpkin Festival is organised by Good Food Oxfordshire with thanks to Oxfordshire County Council.