Downtown Raleigh dog owners finally get their long-awaited payoff this Saturday, October 17, when Moore Square hosts Pets and Pumpkins from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. — an autumn celebration that doubles as the grand opening of the park's new permanent off-leash dog park. The free event will feature a pet parade and a pumpkin patch, drawing families and their four-legged companions into the heart of downtown.
According to the Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, the event is sponsored by The Acorn on Person Street, a nearby seven-story residential building. The Acorn is a pet-friendly apartment development at 422 S. Person St. in the Moore Square district that includes amenities like an on-site pet spa and pet washing station, according to WithersRavenel. Its involvement reflects downtown Raleigh's growing appetite for dog-friendly housing near the park.
The dog park's reopening has been a long time coming. City of Raleigh parks status alerts show the Moore Square dog park closed in August 2025 so crews could replace its temporary pop-up layout with a permanent, upgraded facility, according to RaleighNC.gov. Hoodline previously covered the closure's extended timeline back when a January 2026 reopening was still the plan.
Safety Rules for the Crowds
With big crowds of pets expected, the city has laid out specific safety guidelines for Saturday. Dogs must be leashed, carried in a stroller, or kept in a sling, while cats and other small pets need to be harnessed or secured in carriers, per the city's event listing. Those rules are meant to keep the scene calm even as hundreds of animals and their owners pack into the historic square.
The new dog park itself will operate under the same regulations that govern Raleigh's broader network of off-leash dog parks, which include features like double-gated entries, agility equipment, water fountains, and separate enclosures for small dogs, per the city's parks department. Inside those off-leash areas, food, treats, toys, and lawn chairs are strictly prohibited to prevent dog aggression, and any puppy entering must be at least four months old and fully vaccinated.
A Historic Square With Deep Roots
Moore Square itself is far more than a convenient downtown meeting spot. The four-acre park, bounded by Hargett, Martin, Blount, and Person streets, was laid out in 1792 by surveyor William Christmas as one of five original public squares in Raleigh's city design, modeled in part after Philadelphia's urban plan, according to The Cultural Landscape Foundation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Of those five original green spaces, only Moore Square and Nash Square remain open public parks; Burke and Caswell squares were repurposed for government buildings in the 19th century, according to WUNC. That rarity helps explain why the square draws such heavy foot traffic: a Landscape Architecture Foundation study published by the City of Oaks Foundation found Moore Square logged 738,051 total visitors in 2022, with fall events like Pets and Pumpkins boosting visitor density by an average of 22 percent.
The square's 47 preserved and newly planted trees, including 28 century-old historic oaks, collectively sequester an estimated 5,797 pounds of atmospheric carbon each year, according to the City of Oaks Foundation.
