The City of Highwood, IL is ready to make pumpkin carving history, as host of the Great Pumpkin Fest of 2010. The four-day festival will bring people from all over together as they attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Record for the most jack-o-lanterns lit in one location. Plans call for 32,000 pumpkins to light up Highwood on Saturday October 23rd to break the current worlds record set in 2006 of 30,128 pumpkins in Boston, MA.
The four-day Great Pumpkin Fest kicks off on Wednesday, October 20th and will culminate on Saturday, October 23rd with the grand lighting. The family fun festivities leading up to the record breaking pumpkin lighting will offer plenty of opportunities for people to come and bring their own jack-o-lanterns or carve pumpkins and place them in the display, and then take them back home after the Record Breaking attempt.
Each day of the festival will include the Highwood Evening Gourmet Farmers Market at City Hall Park (17 Highwood Ave), vendors galore, live music on multiple stages, hay rides, a haunted house, pumpkin carving stations, massive pumpkin displays, lighting of the towers, a 50/50 raffle plus additional prizes and much more! Further festival fun includes:
Wednesday-Friday, October 20-22, 3pm-8pm and Saturday the 23rd from noon to 8 pm – Evening Gourmet Farmers Market.
Wednesday October 20th – 5pm pumpkin pie baking and eating contests at City Hall Park, 6pm Ronald McDonald kicks off the lighting of the first pumpkin wall of the fest.
Thursday, October 21st, 4-7pm Pumpkin Dinner and BBQ at Scouts Park (across the street from Subway) with the military and cub scouts, benefiting and creating awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org). Dinner will be supplied by local businesses and restaurants with proceeds going to the Wounded Warriors Project. Military and wounded warriors eat for free. There will be a Pumpkin Catapult, live music, videotaped interviews of Wounded Warriors and other Vets, and of course, pumpkin carving.
Friday, October 22nd, 3pm-8pm- Carving Night, get your carve on all night! 3-6pm Trick-or-Treating throughout the business district, 3-close Pumpkin Treats and Pumpkin Drink specials at designated restaurants, taverns, and businesses throughout Highwood, 6:30pm Thriller Dance at City Hall Park.
Saturday, October 23, 9am-8pm – 9 am Midtown/Athletico Pumpkin Run, 11 am Pumpkin Regatta featuring giant pumpkin flotillas on Lake Michigan, 2-4pm Dress Your Pet Halloween Costume Contest at School of Rock Park, and from 4-5:30pm The Great Costume Parade starting from the School of Rock Park. From noon-8 pm a day full of pumpkin carving and counting, food, vendors, childrens entertainment, live music on four different stages, shopping, haunted house hay rides, etc. The festivities culminate at 6:30pm with the lighting and grand display to break the Guinness Book of Worlds Record for the most jack-o-lanterns. At 8:00 pm we will announce the record totals!
Last year the city hosted its Prelude to the Great Record Breaking Pumpkin Fest of 2010, drawing record crowds and lighting over 1,200 jack-o-lanterns. This year the city has added more events and hopes to break the current Guinness World Record. The pumpkin walls will be displayed all around Highwood. Pumpkin Fest central will be located at the Highwoods City Park at Highwood City Hall, 17 Highwood Avenue, beginning Wednesday, October 20th, 2010.
We are going to break the world record this year by working with pumpkin farmers from all over the Midwest from Wisconsin to downstate Illinois, and have pumpkin carving at every school, church, synagogue, community organization and the local military bases, says Alderman Eric Falberg, the great pumpkin mind behind this event.
