From West Valley, the rest of October looks like one long fall season, but it runs on separate calendars. Barrett Orchards' free October Days on Pecks Canyon Road stop after Sunday, Oct. 25. The Saturday drive-in at Sozo Sports Complex takes Oct. 17 off and comes back for Halloween night. Thompson's Farm up the Old Naches Highway runs every weekend through Oct. 31. Since these schedules close at different points, one Saturday is the best of the month and one weekend looks nothing like the rest.
That Saturday is Oct. 24. It's the last October Days weekend at Barrett, Halloween Town at Sozo, and a drive-in movie at the same Sozo lot right after. By the following Saturday, Halloween, the orchard part of the month is over on the west side, and what's left are evening events and a drive up the highway.
The rest of October, weekend by weekend
Today is Thursday, Oct. 8. Here's what's still ahead on the four weekends left, using the dates each organizer has posted for 2026.
| Weekend | Barrett Orchards, Pecks Canyon Rd | Thompson's Farm, Naches | Sozo Sports Complex, S. 36th Ave | Union Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 10–11 | October Days, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. | Open Sat and Sun | Drive-in Sat, 8 p.m. | Agri-Copia, Oct. 10–11 |
| Oct. 17–18 | October Days, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. | Open Sat and Sun | No drive-in; Hop Country Live Sat | Madd Hatter's Kids Day, Sun |
| Oct. 24–25 | Final October Days weekend | Open Sat and Sun | Halloween Town 4–8 p.m., drive-in 8 p.m. | Corn maze, Madd Hatter's |
| Oct. 31 | None | Open Sat | Drive-in, 8 p.m. | Madd Hatter's final night |
All the Barrett dates come from the Visit Yakima October Days listing, which lists Saturdays and Sundays on Oct. 3–4, 10–11, 17–18 and 24–25. The Sozo dates are on the complex's events page. Thompson's Farm lists its festival as running every Saturday and Sunday in October.
Pecks Canyon Road has three weekends left
Washington Fruit Place at Barrett Orchards, 1209 Pecks Canyon Rd., is in the 98908 zip code, so for much of West Valley it's the closest October Days event of the season. The orchard has been run by the Barrett family for several generations. It grows cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, pears and apples, and sells fresh-picked apples by the box or the pound, or ships them.
October Days runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on event weekends. The activities are free: a pumpkin patch, hay rides, a hay maze, a hay pyramid and photo booths. Food includes a fresh cider pour, mini cider donuts, caramel apple cups, ice cream and seasonal drinks. The gift shop is open during its regular business hours on those days.
The schedule doesn't include Halloween weekend. If the cider pour and hay rides are part of your fall, the last chance at Barrett this year is Oct. 24–25.
The Saturday with no movie
Sozo Sports Complex, at 2200 S. 36th Ave., calls its October drive-in series a Saturday night event, and admission is $7 per car. Movies start at 8 p.m. You can bring lawn chairs and blankets, and firepits can be reserved by email through the complex. Hocus Pocus opened the series.
The posted dates are Oct. 3, 10, 24 and 31, so Oct. 17 isn't on the list. That night Sozo hosts Hop Country Live, a fundraiser for youth sports at the complex. The country band Whiskey Talkin' is opening, and the headliner hadn't been announced when this was written.
That means the drive-in has three showings left: this Saturday, Oct. 24 and Halloween night. The weekend of Oct. 17–18 is the one week the series takes off, while Barrett and Thompson's still run both days.
October 24 is the one day everything lines up
The Saturday before Halloween is the only date with Barrett's October Days, Thompson's festival and two Sozo events running at once. Sozo's Halloween Town runs 4 to 8 p.m. It's a community trunk-or-treat and fall festival with a costume contest, games, food trucks, music and giveaways. Its Eventbrite listing says it's free. The drive-in starts at 8 p.m. in the same place, just as Halloween Town wraps up.
If you stay on the west side, the day can look like this:
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: the last October Days Saturday at Barrett Orchards on Pecks Canyon Road. Pumpkins, a hay ride and the cider pour, with no activity fees.
- 4 to 8 p.m.: Halloween Town at Sozo on S. 36th Avenue, in costume. Trunks and vendor booths are signed up ahead of time through the complex.
- 8 p.m.: stay for the drive-in at $7 per car. A reserved firepit makes it warmer late in October.
That's three events without leaving Yakima's west and south sides, and two of them in one parking lot. The only other Saturday with both a Barrett weekend and a drive-in is Oct. 10, and Halloween Town isn't that night.
Halloween weekend looks different
On Saturday, Oct. 31, there's no free orchard weekend left on the west side, and the options split two ways.
The closest one is the Sozo drive-in, which shows its final October movie that night at 8 p.m.
The daytime farm option is Thompson's Farm at 9535 Old Naches Highway, which keeps going through the last Saturday of the month. Thompson's charges differently from Barrett. Admission and parking are free, and you pay per activity: $6 each for the hayride, the corn maze and the kids area, $4 for the walnut cannon, $8 for a gem mining bag, and 25 cents to feed the chickens. Passes run $16 for the Harvest Pass, $22 for the Farmer's Pass without a gem bag and $30 for the Farmer's Fun Pass with one. Tickets are required for anyone 1 year and older. Pumpkin cannons fire on the hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., then pig races. Donuts are made on site all weekend, and you can pick your own apples.
The Harvest Pass costs $16, the same as buying the hayride, maze and cannon tickets one at a time. Each pass or ticket covers each activity once.
The Union Gap side, if you head south
Two Union Gap events go all the way to Halloween. Madd Hatter's Haunt, at 208 Ahtanum Road, runs Oct. 9 through Oct. 31. Regular admission is $15 or two for $28, and VIP is $20 or two for $38. According to Visit Union Gap, the family day is Sunday, Oct. 18, from noon to 2:30 p.m., and kids get in for $5 with a can of food.
The Union Gap Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch at 3213 Tacoma St. has a 12-acre maze, hay rides, pumpkin cannons and pick-your-own pumpkins. Admission is $15 for ages 3 and up and is good all day, so you can come back at night for the haunted maze. It shows outdoor movies on Friday nights, a PG film and a PG-13 film, included with admission. Visit Yakima lists those Fridays as Oct. 9, 16, 23 and 30, which match the 2026 calendar. The farm's own page still shows the 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st, so check the farm's Facebook page before you plan around a particular Friday.
This weekend is also the Central Washington Agricultural Museum's Agri-Copia on Oct. 10–11. Admission is free, and there are draft-horse demonstrations, wagon rides and pumpkin decorating for kids. The museum's detailed daily schedule hadn't been posted at last check.
The weekday option on 74th Avenue
Every event above is on a weekend. Ahtanum Berry Patch & Bakery, at 2811 S. 74th Ave., runs on a different schedule: Wednesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sunday through Tuesday. The bakery is open all year, with pies, cinnamon rolls, cookies, scones and cupcakes. Its online menu lists pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies from October through April. Berry picking is listed from July through October, so this is about the end of that season.
The Berry Patch hasn't posted a winter schedule or a 2026 end date for berries, so call before going for anything other than the bakery case. Barrett's October Days end Oct. 25, and Thompson's festival is billed for October weekends. The Berry Patch's posted Wednesday through Saturday hours aren't tied to either calendar.
If you'd like to know how a fall weekend schedule like this affects listing a home in West Valley, from photo timing to which Saturdays draw open-house visitors, Cory Bemis can go through the dates with you. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll talk timing from there.
