The hay bales and corn stalks are back at the northeast corner of Lumsden Road and Parsons Avenue. Dave's Pumpkin Patch returns to 106 E. Lumsden Ave. each October. Owner Dave Morrow got his start in 1996, helping his son sell pumpkins through school, and opened his own operation two years later. The family-owned business has supported Brandon, Valrico and FishHawk PTAs since 1998. This season the lot is open weekdays from 1 to 8 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Saturday, October 31. Pumpkins start at $4, and now and then a "Big Mac" shows up weighing 70 to 80 pounds.
Tampa Bay Water's South Hillsborough Pipeline is drawn through that same corner. The project's route runs south on Parsons Avenue past Lumsden Road, then down John Moore Road, west on Ronele Drive and south on South Kings Avenue. North of Brandon Boulevard, Parsons is now also a posted detour for the Moon Avenue closure. From Victoria Street down to Ronele Drive, Parsons ties together most of what Brandon has scheduled for October, November and December. The events have fixed dates. The work zones along that line move every few weeks.
The North End: Moon Avenue Through Late December
North Moon Avenue is now closed between Victoria Street and Brandon Boulevard. The project's schedule page lists October 2 as the start of open-cut work there. The September 23 closure notice set the full closure to through traffic and pedestrians to begin as early as 7 a.m. on Monday, October 5, with open-trench work starting at Victoria and moving south toward Brandon Boulevard in phases. The project notice gives the detour as North Knights Avenue, Victoria Street, North Parsons Avenue and Brandon Boulevard. For the first month, local traffic reaches Moon from Morgan Street, and that access point changes as the crews move south.
The dates to remember on this stretch:
- Tunneling at North Moon Avenue and Brandon Boulevard continues through mid-November.
- Construction on North Moon Avenue is expected to last through late December, weather permitting.
- Crews work Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sidewalks on both sides of Moon are closed in the active zone. Pedestrian detours use North Kings, North Knights and North Parsons avenues.
This matters most for trips along Brandon Boulevard. Nova Furniture promoted a new showroom at 225 W. Brandon Blvd., with grand-opening weekend events scheduled for October 2 through 4. Tampa Bay Water's own planning director included Nova Furniture in a list of businesses still welcoming customers during construction. Farther east, Fred Astaire Dance Studios–Brandon has moved within its plaza to 1072 E. Brandon Blvd.
The Middle: A Short Run of Lumsden Road Carries October
South of Brandon Boulevard, the season gathers on Lumsden. Dave's sits at the Parsons corner. A few blocks west, Brandon Sunday Market sets up at La Viva Plaza, 788 W. Lumsden Rd., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on its scheduled dates. Between the two, Thrifty Depot has moved its resale shop from Tampa to 723 W. Lumsden Road, near O'Brien's in Oak Park Plaza. East of Parsons, the free Bee the Light Fall Fest runs Saturday, October 24, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 408 Lumsden Rd. E.
The last full weekend of October holds the most. Bee the Light is Saturday the 24th. The Sunday Market's Tent O' Treat Market is Sunday the 25th, and that evening Bay Life Church holds its free Fall Fest from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 1017 Kingsway Road. Dave's is open all weekend.
Pipeline work has already reached this stretch once. In February, the project announced closures to start March 2: southbound Parsons Avenue between Vonderburg Drive and Lumsden Road, and northbound John Moore Road between Julie Lane and Lumsden. The signed detours used Vonderburg, Oakfield and South Kings on one side and Julie, Bryan and Lumsden on the other. That notice forecast about four months of round-the-clock closures. No later notice we found confirms when that work wrapped up. The project's construction updates page and its email alerts are the place to check the current status before a Saturday trip to the pumpkin lot.
The South End: Ronele, Kings and Bloomingdale
The other active zone this month is south of Lumsden. El Greco Drive was scheduled to close at Ronele Drive starting October 5 for about a week. Ronele itself stays closed to through traffic while open-trench work moves east toward John Moore Road, and that work is expected to take about two months. Some relief came on October 7. The southbound exterior lane of South Kings Avenue reopened from just south of Ronele Drive to Dali Drive after concrete barrier repairs. Median restoration is still planned for a later date. In September, Tampa Bay Water said open-cut installation was complete along portions of South Kings.
Tampa Bay Water now runs a Shop Local directory of businesses along the route that remain open. Several of the Brandon listings sit on one block of West Bloomingdale Avenue, near the South Kings tunnel that runs beneath Bloomingdale:
| Business | Address |
|---|---|
| Splash Car Wash and Lube | 802 W. Bloomingdale Ave. |
| bin + board | 807 W. Bloomingdale Ave. |
| ECHO Thrift | 815 W. Bloomingdale Ave. |
| Family Dollar | 821 W. Bloomingdale Ave. |
| Big Lots | 843 W. Bloomingdale Ave. |
| Al's Barn | 3410 S. Kings Ave. |
| Bacon Egg and Cheese | 3410 S. Kings Ave. |
The directory's Brandon-area list also includes The Stein & Vine, Tu Pais Latin Market, Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs and Sun Country Cleaners. Business owners can submit deals and events through the project site, so the page may grow into a running list of corridor promotions through the holidays.
November and December Move to Oakfield and Brandon Boulevard
After Halloween, the season spreads out. The schedule from now through mid-December:
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Oct. 11 | Dillard's fashion show, 1 to 2 p.m. | Brandon Exchange |
| Sun., Oct. 11 | "Cancer Sucks!" Sunday Market, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | La Viva Plaza, 788 W. Lumsden Rd. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Bee the Light Fall Fest, 4 to 8 p.m. | 408 Lumsden Rd. E. |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Tent O' Treat Market; Bay Life Fall Fest, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. | La Viva Plaza; 1017 Kingsway Rd. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Brandon Seafood Festival, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 1915 Camp Florida Rd. |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Shop Local Shop Small market | La Viva Plaza |
| Nov. 20 to 22 | Novemberfest | Nativity Catholic Church, 705 E. Brandon Blvd. |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Holiday Gift Market; Dave's Christmas season opens | La Viva Plaza; 106 E. Lumsden Ave. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Little Brands Collective | Brandon Exchange |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Brandon Parade of Lights, 5:30 p.m. | Oakfield Dr., Lakewood to Vonderburg |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Oh So Santa market | La Viva Plaza |
The corner at Lumsden and Parsons goes quiet for a few weeks after Halloween. Dave's own site lists the pumpkin season as October 1 through 31. The Christmas tree season begins the Sunday before Thanksgiving and runs until December 21 or until the trees sell out. In 2026 that Sunday falls on November 22, the same day as the Sunday Market's Holiday Gift Market down the road. The site's dates are a standing rule rather than a 2026 announcement, so a call to 813-843-8182 before heading over is sensible.
The Brandon Parade of Lights steps off on Saturday, December 12, at 5:30 p.m. It covers about 1.3 miles from Lakewood Drive along Oakfield Drive to Vonderburg Drive, typically lasts around two hours and draws thousands of spectators. The Brandon Riverview and Valrico FishHawk chambers each pick a nonprofit to receive parade proceeds. This year's partners are MacDonald Training Center and Easterseals Florida. Oakfield and Vonderburg are also the streets the pipeline used for its signed Parsons detour last spring, so the route ends just a few blocks west of the Parsons corridor.
What Comes After the Detours
Two longer timelines run past this season. Tampa Bay Water's schedule has construction continuing through 2028, the pipeline in service at the end of 2028, and restoration in the first half of 2029. The Lumsden and Parsons corner will likely see more pumpkin and Christmas tree seasons alongside construction before the roads are fully restored.
The other timeline brings a new business. Wright's Gourmet House, open in South Tampa since 1963, plans a location of about 15,000 square feet at 328 Brandon Town Center Dr., near Brandon Exchange, with a target of summer 2027. The building was most recently Abby Iron Doors and before that Peltz Shoes. Plans call for the café, a bakery, an espresso bar, a gourmet market and expanded catering. Until then, the Brandon Town Center Drive address is still a plan.
If you're thinking about selling in Brandon, the dates in this post matter for your listing too. A Moon Avenue detour or a closed Ronele Drive changes how buyers reach your street, and a showing on parade night or pumpkin-lot weekends needs different timing. The Brenda Wade Team keeps track of Brandon's closures and community dates and can help you choose when to list, photograph and show your home this fall.
