Yes, that tower is lined with pumpkins, as was a second tower equally as large, the entire Main Street, and the center of the round-about. The tradition of the Pumpkin Festival began in 1991, with the goal of gathering the largest number of carved, lit pumpkins in one place at one time. It currently holds 8 records in the Guiness Book of World Records for this! Keene's highest record is 29,068 pumpkins, though Boston, MA currently holds the world record, with 30,128 (darn Bostonians!).
Another fun fact: Eric and I both went to college in Keene, where we met as freshmen. So the town holds a little nostalgia for the both of us!
Anyway, this year, we decided to bring both of our boys to introduce them to the pumpkin tradition. The event begins with a parade through the center of town, of all of the children dressed up in their Halloween costumes. No surprise here, Ty is Elmo this year! Though he was sweating bullets, he wore that Elmo suit happily, and waved to kids along the parade route as parents yelled out, "There's Elmo!" (I'm pretty sure he was slightly terrified of the crowds though!)
The rest of the day at the festival was spent with Ty's friend Connor and his family. We braved the crowds (and navigated through some crazy college parties!) to check out the pumpkins, visit the college campus and get some food. The kids were wiped by the end of the day, to say the least!
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| Ty and Connor, ready to drop from the heat! |
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| Ty and Daddy checking out the pumpkins...Ty was not impressed at this point! |
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| Me and my boys on our old college campus!
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After the festival, one of our playgroup families invited us all over to rest and regroup after all of the commotion! Ty got to spend some time with his buddies Jayci, Connor, and Josie, before we headed home after our long adventure. We'll be back next year!
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