Sea of Pumpkins
October 28, 2008i went on one of my favorite fall adventures this weekend – the pumpkin festival in keene, new hampshire. maybe you have to be a certain kind of person to appreciate the fried dough, kettle corn, hot dogs, street bands, pumpkin pie eating contest and children in their halloween costumes but i think it is a great way to spend a fall day. there is also a cute, little old theatre in the downtown area that shows old cartoons for free all day long so you can take a break from the cold for a few minutes and sit down. it’s such a laugh, road runner, tom and jerry, the three stooges, cartoons I haven’t thought of for years! and little kids still think they are funny – who would have thought?
and then of course there are the pumpkins. this year it was a drizzly, rainy day so i think attendance (of both
around the gazebo - pumpkin festival 2008
people and pumpkins) was down. usually there are upwards of 27,000 pumpkins brought by attendees. do you know how many pumpkins that is? seriously, that is a lot of pumpkins! the first time i went several years ago i was absolutely amazed at the sea of pumpkins, pumpkins for blocks and blocks. but this year the recorded total of pumpkins was 22,568. granted, not an insignificant number of pumpkins, but noticeably less than last year. and i admit (with my head hanging in shame) that i have yet to ever contribute a pumpkin to the grand display of pumpkin pageantry.
but in spite of the there being a few less pumpkins, the pumpkin display was amazing. the three story scaffoldings of pumpkins at the end of the streets, especially once lit up after dark, were a sight to behold. at the end of the street around the gazebo there is always a fun display and this year they had the giant pumpkins in that area. there was a pumpkin that was almost as tall as i am. now i realize i’m not very tall, but seriously, i am over 5 feet tall! the pumpkin was at least four feet tall and if it was standing on end (which it wasn’t) i’m sure it would have been a couple of feet taller. it was amazing — and carved. i don’t know who had that job, i’m just glad it wasn’t me!
the pumpkin festival seems like one of those things that represents whatever you might think of as good about fall and new england. it’s an adventure that you can share with family and friends. i won’t miss very many things about new england when i leave, but this is definitely something i will miss. if you missed it this year, don’t miss it next year. put it in your calendar now: saturday, october 17, 2009.
