- Painted round hay bales from local artists at Porky’s Pumpkin Patch. Photo Amy Byres / Observer
- Rio Rancho Events Center spokesman Alex Archuleta stands among scarecrows that local businesses made. Photo Amy Byres / Observer
- New Mexico pride is displayed at the pumpkin patch outside the Rio Rancho Events Center. Photo Amy Byres / Observer
- City Tourism Manager Noah Trujillo drove through the pumpkin patch. Photo Amy Byres / Observer
- A plastic skeleton having fun at the pumpkin patch. Photo Amy Byres / Observer
For October, Porky’s Pumpkin Patch will be open in Rio Rancho Events Center’s parking lot. The drive-thru pumpkin patch is free; the pumpkins at the end are not. Visitors can pick out a pumpkin, get food and beverages at Porky’s BBQ or park their cars on drive-in movie nights on Friday and Saturday. This event follows COVID-19 safety guidelines, said center spokesman Alex Archuleta. Outside the center is what Archuleta is calling Rio Rancho’s Fall Festival, with the pumpkin patch and The Mile of Terror near each other. Archuleta said there are 90 pallets of pumpkins, about 1,000 corncobs, 370 cornstalk bundles and about 30 round hay bales weighing about 400 pounds each at the pumpkin patch. The pumpkin patch is open every day this month from 12:30-6:30 p.m.