Glass Pumpkin Patch at The Morton Arboretum

The Glass Pumpkin Patch is a three-day sale and show of blown-glass pumpkins set out on the lawn beside the arboretum’s Visitor Center. According to the organizer, the 2026 dates are Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11. Public hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday (after a 10 a.m. presale viewing) and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Entry is included with general admission, which is sold by date online and is $2 cheaper than at the gate.

Seventeen artists take part this year, per the organizer, among them Mike Amis of MAS Glass, Aaron Baigelman of Titan Glass and Jeremy Hansen of Hansen Craft Art, from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Utah. Glassblowing demonstrations run every 30 minutes all three days, and flameworking demonstrations run Saturday and Sunday. Pumpkins are for sale at prices set by each artist.

Members get a preview on Thursday, October 8, from 4 to 7 p.m. for $28 (ages 21 and up), according to the arboretum. The same weekend is the middle of the Fall Color Festival, with Loteria on Sunday afternoon and weekend concessions in Arbor Court.

Plan your visit

The arboretum is on Route 53 at I-88 in Lisle. Drive; the Lisle Metra station on the BNSF line is about two miles away with no bus connection. The Visitor Center lots are closest to the patch and fill by late morning on Saturday, when the best pieces also sell out, so Friday at opening is the move for buyers. Sunday afternoon is quietest. Bring a box or padded bag for anything you buy, since the artists wrap but do not crate, and plan a walk on the Meadow Lake loop afterward for the color.