There's Now A Hello Kitty Pumpkin Patch In California, And It's As Cute As It Sounds

Pumpkin patch moments are already pretty adorable. But add in a photo op with Hello Kitty and you’ve just hit cuteness overload.

It might seem like an unlikely collaboration – a farm that focuses on sustainable and responsible farming and a fictional Japanese character – but somehow, it works. And that’s what Tanaka Farms and Sanrio, the brand behind the adorable Hello Kitty character are doing – teaming up not just for the most adorable pumpkin patch you’ll see this fall, but on a year-long partnership.

Tanaka Farms, an Irvine-based 30 acre family-owned farm that’s been in operation since 1940 announced at the end of September that they’d be partnering with the Sanrio brand for a year-long partnership, officially kicking off on September 29th with a the opening of the Sanrio x Tanaka Farms’ Pumpkin Patch, an annual event for the farm. The patch will be open through the end of October.

The Sanrio brand’s iconic characters will be ambassadors to the farm not only through the run of the pumpkin patch, but through the farm’s events over the next year.

Admission into the patch is $3, and once inside you can expect not just Hello Kitty to be there, but you can also expect some of her friends too. That’s right, Keroppi, Chococat, My Melody, and Pochacco are also along for the super cute ride.

There are wagon rides around the farm, a corn maze, a “u-pick” veggie garden, a petting zoo, games, food, and more. And this all leads up to a Halloween event with a Sanrio costume contest taking place on October 28th.

While you might not think that these two brands make sense, just think about it – what better way to get kids interested in eating their veggies? The partnership hopes to promote the importance of healthy eating, as well as sustainability, responsible farming, and most importantly as a way to show support to the local community.

But like I said, this is a year-long collaboration, so this won’t be your only chance to hang with Hello Kitty and Keroppi – who will regularly be making appearances during the pumpkin patch’s run – they’ll also be around for the Christmas Tree Farm, the strawberry picking and melon celebration in the spring, and much, much more.

Tanaka Farms regularly attracts about 100,000 guests a year for their seasonal tours – and I think it might be safe to say that this might be a record breaking year for them.