Looking for a great family day trip this October that you can enjoy with your kids? Check out the Keene Pumpkin Festival in Keene, N.H.
What started in 1991 as a small community event has grown into a grand pumpkinpalooza festival featuring thousands of carved pumpkins, ranging from the simple and silly, to elaborate and eerie.
Held in the downtown business district of Keene, (best known for being home to Keene State College) the annual pumpkin festival kicks off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21. The festial draws thousands of visitors and includes food vendors, music and an arts and crafts show. The family-friendly festival is also intended as a way to give a boost to Keene's downtown business district.
"The Pumpkin Festival has been broadcasting to the world what can happen when people come together for no other purpose than making magic happen," Nancy Sporbor, the event's founder, wrote in 2009. "Unlike most other festivals, our's has no ulterior motives. It is not about making money, amassing funds for charity, selling stuff, or trying to get votes. The heart of the Pumpkin Festival lies in the pumpkins. What better gift could there be than to show the world what a community can do?"
If you go during the day make sure you stick around for sunset, because that's when the festival really, and literally, shines. Organizers at dusk light up the pumpkins that are on display in a variety of places all throughout the downtown, including the ones on the giant "pumpkin tower" - a dizzying pyramid of hundreds of pumpkins at one end of Main Street. The glow from thousands of pumpkins is truly an amazing sight in this quintessential New England village!
Keene Pumpkin Festival
Main Street, Keene, N.H.
Saturday, Oct. 21
Online: Pumpkinfestival.org
On Facebook: @Keenepumpkinfestival
