Thousands of glowing jack-o'-lanterns are set to take over Hudson Gardens in Littleton again this fall, as the Magic of the Jack O'Lanterns festival returns to the 30-acre riverside venue from September 18 through November 1. Organizers say the display transforms the gardens after dark with a glowing trail of thousands of pumpkins, larger-than-life pumpkin creations, and a synchronized light show set to music roughly every 30 minutes.
The family-friendly event, presented by Denver-based Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, lets families stroll the trail at their own pace, according to 9News. Displays this year include a nautical seascape, a pirate ship, dinosaurs and dragons, plus s'mores stations with food and drinks scattered along the way. Organizers said they were excited to welcome families back to Hudson Gardens for the start of the Halloween season, per the same report.
A New Trail Called Enchanted Hollow
New for 2026 is Enchanted Hollow, a one-third-mile trail add-on featuring glowing landscapes and additional light displays, the outlet reports. It builds on last year's fifth-anniversary expansion, when the event featured more than 7,000 hand-carved pumpkins and stretched the overall trail experience to roughly two hours, according to Macaroni KID. That 2025 run also introduced additional interactive family areas as the festival kept scaling up year over year.
Beyond the seasonal decor, the carving artistry itself has become part of the draw. Artisans have replicated fine art like Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night in pumpkin form, alongside pop-culture icons like Harry Potter, according to 9News' earlier reporting on the event. Thirteenth Floor has also partnered with the STAR Institute in past seasons to host a dedicated Low Sensory Night, dimming lights and lowering volume for guests with sensory differences while keeping the displays open to families.
Tickets, Parking and Getting There
Timed-entry tickets start at $14.99 for children and $19.99 for adults, with free parking available across Hudson Gardens' surface lots and overflow parking at Arapahoe Community College when the main lots fill up. The timed entry system is designed to control crowd flow along the trail and keep South Santa Fe Drive traffic manageable during peak weekend visits.
A Denver Original Gone National
Magic of the Jack O'Lanterns first launched in Colorado before growing into a multi-city brand, with Thirteenth Floor exporting the concept to Southern California's South Coast Botanic Garden in Palos Verdes starting in 2023, according to Time Out. Thirteenth Floor, co-founded by CEO Chris Stafford, is headquartered in Denver and operates 32 attractions across 17 U.S. cities, making it one of the country's largest live Halloween entertainment companies. The company's national footprint spans everything from haunted houses to immersive theater, a scale reflected in Hoodline's coverage of the broader commercial haunt industry, which generates between $300 million and $500 million in annual ticket sales nationwide.
For Hudson Gardens, the festival has become a financial and cultural anchor. Littleton voters approved a 5% lodging tax in 2022 that named Hudson Gardens one of four Tier 1 major cultural assets, a designation worth $100,000 in annual municipal funding for 2025 and 2026, as Hoodline previously reported. The illuminated fall festival, along with the winter Hudson Holidays light show, has taken on greater importance for the venue's programming since its long-running summer concert series ended in 2020.
Hudson Gardens itself traces back to 1941, when it began as a five-acre private garden developed by Colonel King C. and Evelyn Leigh Hudson before expanding into the 30-acre public attraction along the South Platte River that opened to visitors in June 1996. The site is owned by the South Suburban Park and Recreation District and operated by the Hudson Foundation.
