Festival of Pumpkins in downtown Paris

The Festival of Pumpkins has become one of the most anticipated fall events in Lamar County. For 27 years, Paris Main Street has organized this one-day festival that transforms the downtown plaza into a family-friendly autumn fair. With over 60 vendors, multiple food trucks, live entertainment on the square, and enough bounce houses and games to keep children occupied all afternoon, it is the kind of event that draws crowds from across the region.

The 2026 festival

Why it matters

The Festival of Pumpkins draws thousands of visitors to downtown Paris each year, and it has maintained its character as a community-first event through nearly three decades. The vendors are local, the food comes from area restaurants and caterers, and the entertainment is the kind you would find at a county fair but scaled to the intimacy of a downtown square. For families evaluating the property in Titus County, it is a useful signal: within 30 minutes there is a long-running fall tradition that the region turns out for, year after year.

October in Northeast Texas is the right time to be outside. The heat of the summer is gone, the humidity drops, and the autumn light settles over the courthouse square in a way that photographs well but feels even better in person. The festival takes full advantage of that weather, spreading across the plaza and the surrounding sidewalks from mid-morning through late afternoon.

Getting there

Downtown Paris is about 30 minutes from County Road 1070 via US-271 north. The drive runs through the farm country of Titus and Lamar Counties and ends at the historic plaza that anchors Paris's downtown. Parking is available around the square and in nearby lots. For anyone living on the property full-time, the Festival of Pumpkins is the kind of Saturday outing that does not require planning. You drive north for half an hour, spend the afternoon on the square, and drive home through the October countryside with the windows down.