Pumpkintown Rules

Seven villages dot the landscape of the Hamptons. Each has a mayor. But every fall for two months an eighth village opens, and then, after a brief run, closes. It’s Pumpkintown and it occupies 28 acres right across the street from the Parrish Art Museum on the Montauk Highway. There is no mayor. But there is a farmer, Hank Kraszewsi, and what he says goes. So he is King Hank.

Pumpkintown is for kids, ages 3 to about 12. They arrive with parents, go for train rides (in wooden cars pulled by a tractor), they pick pumpkins and apples, they walk through kid-size castles, slide down tubes, climb on swings, pick apples and pumpkins and go into a corn maze and try not to get lost.

Related: Where to Pick Apples and Pumpkins on the East End

This year is no different, but the people with the clipboards are around to enforce social distancing. Governor Cuomo has set the guidelines. For example, with the corn maze, they take the total acreage, multiply it by 20%—since 80% is corn plants and 20% footpaths—then divide the square footage of the footpaths by 100 and the result is the number of people allowed inside at any one time. For the apple orchards, it’s the same thing but the acreage is multiplied by 50%, because half of the orchards are taken up by trees. Result? Pumpkintown’s capacity is usually 5,000 guests. But this year it’s only allowing 400 at a time, all wearing masks, of course.

Enjoy. Pumpkintown will remain open through mid-November. It’s rated four-and-a-half stars out of five. Cheers.