The free bike valet for this year's West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta sits at Nyberg Street and 84th Avenue. That corner is one edge of the block the Tualatin City Council asked Walker Macy, the firm behind the original Tualatin Commons, to redesign on September 14. So if you lock up your bike on October 18, you're standing on a corner the city plans to change. The same goes for much of the walk around the lake.
The regatta has run since 2004. Two things are new this fall. The Rotary 5K has a new course, and the city has a design team working on its downtown and a six-acre riverfront park. Here's the weekend in order, with the planning sites it passes along the way.
Saturday starts at a brewery, not the lake
Regatta weekend starts Saturday, October 17, with Pumpkins and Pints at Stickmen Brewing Company, 19475 SW 118th Ave., from noon to 5 p.m. The main draw is the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers' Terminator Weigh-Off, with craft beer and wood-fired pizza. The city credits those same growers and "their truly massive pumpkins" with making the regatta possible. You'll see the pumpkins being weighed on Saturday, and on Sunday the hollowed-out ones are on the water as boats.
This year's poster theme is "Tattoo Couture – Fortune Favors the Brave!" The coverage of the poster doesn't connect the theme to any new activity, so think of it as artwork, not a hint about the program.
Sunday morning, before the lake fills up
The 5K moved across the trestle
The biggest change this year is on Tualatin Road. The Tualatin Rotary Regatta Run/Walk still starts at 9 a.m. at Tualatin Community Park. Organizers have moved the start, the finish and the vendor village to the far side of the train trestle. The route now uses the recently finished paved loop at Cook Park and runs counterclockwise. Organizers ask runners to stay to the left and say the change should clear up "virtually all of the main points of congestion experienced in the past."
That has a parking effect too. With the event moved, the main Tualatin Community Park lot opens up for early arrivals. Organizers say to drive straight to the lot on the far side of the trestle. The course goes over a footbridge, through Durham Park and Cook Park, and back. They describe it as flat and friendly for walkers, strollers and dogs.
Two more details for families. A new quarter-mile kids' dash for ages 4 to 12 starts at 8:45 a.m., just before the main race. Kids who stay afterward can trick-or-treat if they wear a costume. Net proceeds pay for Tualatin Rotary's first-generation college scholarships at Tualatin High School. The run was founded in memory of a Marine. The Active.com registration listing shows online signup at $45 through Wednesday, October 14, at 8 p.m. That page has no publish date, so check the price when you register.
Getting to the Commons without circling for parking
The festival shuttle runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Pickups are at Kaiser Permanente, Bellagio's Pizza, The Oregon Clinic and Hedges Green. The drop-off is near Floor & Decor, about two blocks from the lake. ADA parking is in the city's Green Lot at 18715 SW Boones Ferry Road. The bike valet at Nyberg and 84th runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
If you're driving from the south side of downtown, check the Martinazzi Avenue sewer work first. The city's latest notice says Martinazzi at Blake Street is closed to through traffic, with local access only and significant delays. That notice covers the week of September 28 and gives no reopening date. Nothing the city has posted links the closure to festival access, so check the project page the week of the event.
The regatta itself, hour by hour
The festival runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lake of the Commons, 8325 SW Nyberg St., and it's free. The city's Sunday schedule is built around two sets of races:
- 8:45 a.m. Kids' dash at Tualatin Community Park, then the 5K at 9 a.m.
- 9:30 a.m. Shuttle service and bike valet open.
- 10 a.m. Festival opens at the lake with pumpkin bowling, pumpkin golf, roaming pirates and professional pumpkin carvers.
- Noon. First races, with the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers plus sponsors and guests.
- 2 p.m. Second races, with public paddlers and local first responders.
- 4 p.m. Festival closes. The bike valet closes at 4:30 and the last shuttle leaves at 4:45.
The kids' costume contest happens during the day. Plan to be at the water's edge for the 2 p.m. heat if you want to watch local paddlers and first responders race.
The same blocks, on a planning map
The regatta works because the Commons was designed as a public plaza around water. The city has now brought back the firm that designed it. According to Tigard Today, Walker Macy's assignment covers the square block bounded by SW Seneca Street, SW Boones Ferry Road, SW Nyberg Street and SW 84th Avenue. There, the city wants a public-private partnership to create a mixed-use district. Besides the original Commons, Walker Macy's work includes Pioneer Courthouse Square and the Portland Japanese Garden.
The job is to write new downtown design standards. The city says the current ones date to 2001. This phase of the Downtown Revitalization Project is scheduled from September 2026 through March 2028. It builds on two earlier phases. First came a downtown identity study. Then came nine months of market studies, site analysis and architectural design with the University of Oregon's Sustainable City Year Program. Metro gave the city $740,000 in July through its 2040 Planning and Development Grant program to support this phase.
A second place to paddle, on the actual river
The regatta puts paddlers on Lake of the Commons for one Sunday a year. The second project picked on September 14 is about paddling on the Tualatin River itself, any day.
The city's working name is Riverfront Park. It covers six acres between the Juanita Pohl Center and the Tualatin Public Library. Current plans include river access for non-motorized use, a link to the Tualatin River Greenway trail, and a community gathering space. Tigard Today says the site will have ADA-compliant river access and a walkable connection into downtown. It also cites Valley Times reporting that the site is planned as a launch point for kayaks, paddleboards and canoes. Seattle-based Berger Partnership will design it. The firm's past work includes the Spokane Riverfront Park redesign and the Downtown Olympia Waterfront.
Mayor Frank Bubenik connected the two projects directly:
"The Riverfront Park will be the first built example of our new vision."
The money comes from three sources. Those are the $25 million parks and trails bond Tualatin voters approved in November 2022, the Core Opportunity and Reinvestment Area urban renewal district, and several Metro grants. On timing, the city's project page lists community engagement in fall 2026, design in winter 2027 and construction as "currently unknown." Tigard Today reported that construction could begin in 2029. So the paddle launch is still years away. The decisions about what it looks like are being made over the next few months.
Where the planning conversation happens this month
The first chance to take part comes before regatta weekend. The Downtown Revitalization Citizen Advisory Committee meets Wednesday, October 7, at 6 p.m. at Tualatin City Services. There's an optional meet-and-greet with the consultant team at 5:30 p.m. The agenda covers an overview of the Phase 3 engagement plan. Committee members will also talk about which community groups and concerns haven't been reached yet. The meeting is open to the public, but there's no set time for public comment. Requests to speak are handled case by case. The next meeting is November 4, 6 to 8 p.m., at the same location.
For Riverfront Park, the city's project page says Berger Partnership will work with city staff on community engagement "in the coming months" and lists that phase only as fall 2026. You can sign up for the project's mailing list to get notices about how to take part. The downtown project has its own update list. Neighborhood CIO meetings this month are another option. Midwest meets October 15, Martinazzi Woods on October 22 and Riverpark on October 24, with parks, transportation and downtown revitalization on the planned topics.
If you live near the Commons, the river or the Martinazzi corridor and want to talk through how the downtown and Riverfront Park plans could affect your own plans, Josh Halemeier can help. He's glad to go over what's on the table and what's still undecided. Schedule a free consultation.
