Westerville Pumpkin Glow 2026: A Guide to Choosing Your Night

The Great Westerville Pumpkin Glow returns to Heritage Park, 60 N. Cleveland Ave., Thursday through Sunday, October 15 to 18. This year the City of Westerville says the event will use all of Heritage Park, with the trail starting in new spots and spreading out. When the event started in 2019, The Columbus Dispatch described a quarter-mile wooded route. The event now fills the whole park.

The way you buy a ticket hasn't changed, and it matters more than the size. Each ticket is good for one named date. Tickets are sold online only, and the gates don't accept cash. All sales are final, and there are no refunds if weather delays or cancels the event. So the main decision is which night to go. Each of the four public nights, plus the sensory-friendly preview on the 14th, lines up with something else on Westerville's calendar.

What The Ticket Buys In 2026

Admission is $15 for adults 14 to 64 and $12 for kids 3 to 13 and seniors 65 and up. The event runs 6:30 to 10 p.m., with last entry at 9:30. You pick a night, not an arrival time. The city's ticket listings show no timed-entry slots, and as of October 4 every night from the 15th to the 18th still showed tickets available. That means there's no rush to buy before you check the forecast for your night.

Here's how the city describes this year's layout:

All of Heritage Park will be used for the event, offering more space to stretch out and explore. The trail will pick-up in new locations, also spreading out for more to enjoy.

The city also promises more artist-carved monster pumpkins than ever, the return of bumper cars and pumpkin riding, glow-in-the-dark mini golf, inflatables, and food trucks with pumpkin-themed treats. It hasn't published a 2026 pumpkin count. Visit Westerville's 2025 listing described a 1,500-pumpkin trail, which is last year's number. The event's FAQ page still says the trail follows the previous year's path and lists a super-sized corn maze. The main event page describes the newer layout.

Everal Barn, at the same address, is closed for interior renovation for all of 2026. The work covers insulation, flooring, lighting, HVAC, ADA restrooms and warming kitchens. The city hasn't said whether the barn work changes the trail route or access around that part of the park.

Parking Around Cleveland Avenue And Main Street

Parking is spread across five lots marked with orange flags:

1. Westerville Sports Complex, 325 N. Cleveland Ave.
2. Westerville Community Center, 350 N. Cleveland Ave.
3. The Point at Otterbein, 60 Collegeview Rd.
4. 310 W. Main St.
5. The COTA lot at 312 W. Main St., for ADA parking

Parking is restricted on the north side of River Trace Road from 5 to 10 p.m. each event day. COTA//Plus serves 310 W. Main St., which is the shorter walk to the Main Street entrance. The event has entrances and exits on both Main Street and Cleveland Avenue, and all trails and walking paths are ADA accessible.

The Community Center lot has a complication this year. A roof project started there September 1 and runs in phases through November, and part of that lot is set aside for construction storage. If you usually park there, have The Point or the Main Street lots in mind as a backup.

Choosing Your Night

Since the ticket locks you into one evening, here's what else is happening in Westerville around each one.

Wednesday, October 14: The Sensory-Friendly Preview

The night before the public opening, the city runs a sensory-friendly Pumpkin Glow from 7 to 9 p.m. It has no smoke machines or strobing lights, a quiet area, and noise-canceling headphones available. The main event does use flashing lights and fog in some displays. Admission is $5 per participant and registration is required. One adult or support staff member can attend free without registering. The Otterbein Wind Ensemble plays the same night at 7:30 in Riley Auditorium, Battelle Fine Arts Center, 170 W. Park St. Otterbein lists its music concerts as free and open to the public.

Friday, October 16: A Science Hour, Then The Trail

Westerville Public Library, 126 S. State St., hosts Magic of Science with the OSU Chemistry Demonstration Lab from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. It's free and aimed at ages 6 to 11. It ends an hour before the Pumpkin Glow gates open, so the two fit together on a school night.

Saturday, October 17: Morning At The Library, Evening In The Park

The library's Halloween Scream-along with Eric Nassau runs 10 to 10:45 a.m. It's free, and a caregiver 18 or older must stay in the room with children 0 to 7. Uptown's calendar lists it as ending at 10:45 p.m., but that looks like a typo. The library's own page says morning.

Sunday, October 18: The Symphony First

Westerville Symphony opens its season with Masterworks I at 5 p.m. in Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St. Otterbein sends general-admission buyers to the Symphony's site and doesn't list a price. It's the only night where a concert ends near the Glow's 6:30 opening. It's also the last night of the event, so there's no rain date if the weather turns.

Another Way In: Carving Pumpkins

The pumpkins on the trail are carved by volunteers in two sessions, Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, from 1 to 3 p.m. Volunteers get an event ticket, groups can sign up together, and anyone under 15 must come with an adult. So a family can carve on the weekend and come back to see the trail lit up a few nights later.

October 10 is busy all around town. Sustainable Westerville's Repair Cafe and Resource Fair runs 9 a.m. to noon at The Point, Otterbein University, 60 Collegeview Rd. It's free. The library's Life-Sized Candyland: Magical Forest Edition runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., also free. Organizers warn waits can reach one to two hours and are usually shorter after 12:30. Doing Candyland after 12:30 still leaves time to make the 1 p.m. carving session.

The Rest Of Westerville's October

The Alum Creek walk is rated moderate, and the listing warns about possible mud and stream crossings. The Wizards & Wands Festival lineup includes COSI science, BUGMAN critters, bubble and magic shows, animal demonstrations and costumed characters, all free and open to all ages.

For a daytime outing that doesn't need a ticket, the Nature Play area at Millstone Creek Park, 745 N. Spring Rd., has reopened. It was Westerville's first universally accessible playground, and the rebuild added a wheelchair-accessible buddy swing, a chime forest, a nature play area and overlook along the creek, and an edible sensory garden with herbs and fruit. Walnut Ridge Park, 529 E. Walnut St., is still listed as closed for reconstruction, and the city hasn't given a reopening date. The city also hasn't confirmed whether the Ohio to Erie Trail segment between Old County Line Road and Electric Avenue reopened after its late-August target.

Questions about the Pumpkin Glow, parking around Heritage Park, or anything else in Westerville this fall? Michael Bradley Gibson and the Gibson Group team answer the phone and are happy to help. Talk with a local agent.