Megan Navarro
DRIFTWOOD — The Vista Brewing co-founders are stepping into their newest venture, as they start the Driftwood Fall Festival — right on their current property.
Karen and Kent Killough co-founded Vista Brewing in Driftwood in 2018 after knowing that they wanted to build a place where both locals and visitors can experience all that the area has to offer. They developed the vision behind the 21-acre ranch with a love for incorporating educational activities, craft culture and high quality and sustainably-produced food and drinks, also finding it important to be good stewards of the land.
The festival comes as the Killoughs felt like they needed to fill a void that was left after the Dripping Springs Pumpkin Festival moved to Uhland in 2024 after three years of operation at the Pound House Historical Farmstead.
“We wanted to give people a place that was in their neighborhood and had that community feel,” Karen said. “Bringing people to the property when it's beautiful fall weather, that's when it's our busiest time. So, giving this other activity for people to do out in the nice weather.”
Karen shared that she did a lot of research on other pumpkin patches and fall festivals in Central Texas on how they could incorporate this on their property for what the local environment has to offer. She also ensures that the sustainability behind the mission of Vista continues through the festival, wanting to donate the leftover corn, straw and pumpkins to a local rancher they work with when they have remaining brewing grain.
With the purchase of a ticket — which are available for single-day admission — activities, such as pumpkin photo opportunities, hay mountain/maze, kids’ crafts and scavenger hunts, animal experiences, petting zoo and access to artisan market vendors, are included. Food, beverages, pumpkins and artisan goods are also available, but they would be a separate purchase.
They also want to ensure that they have activities for all ages, so they will stay open later on Fridays for adults ages 21 and older for various date night opportunities. This includes dinner under the stars, beer and cheese pairings, Halloween outdoor movies and more.
One of the important aspects behind the Driftwood Fall Festival, Karen explained, is limiting the number of tickets that are available, so people have a good experience all around, as well as being able to offer as much for free as possible.
“We're not aiming to have a million people here. We want to have it be less crowded, so that you can actually enjoy the activities and it doesn't feel super crowded, particularly in our first year. We want to really make sure people have a good experience,” she said. “So, even by hour, if you look in our ticketing, we want to limit how many people are in that one time. We kind of said higher quality activities. It's not like a million things to do. The area itself is probably five acres and so, high-quality activities, less crowds and free parking.”
Karen added that they have been involving some of their community partners as well, including, but not limited to, Dark Sky, Native American Seed, Driftwood Historical Conservation Society, Hill Country Conservancy and The Wandering Sanctuary, to put on the festival.
“We bought all kinds of wildflower seeds and native grass seeds from [Native American Seed] and so, making seed bombs for kids and getting some of those partners involved in talking about some of the things that are core to our mission,” she said. “It's not just come and take your picture with the pumpkin, but they're actually kind of learning something along with the fun.”
The Driftwood Fall Festival will be running for three weeks Oct. 15-Nov. 2. It will be open at the following times:
Wednesday: 4-7 p.m.
Thursday: 4-7 p.m.
Friday: 2-7 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. for ages 21 and up
Saturday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tickets for Wednesday-Friday will be at a reduced cost. To purchase tickets or for more information about the Driftwood Fall Festival, visit www.driftwoodfallfestival.com.
