Local Event – Pumpkin Festival

Every once in awhile I find something interesting going on in my hometown of Springfield, IL – whether it be a local event, local flavor or a local view. Each week I’ll bringing a piece of my life to the online world in a series called Let’s Get Local. I encourage anyone and everyone to join in and share a little bit of their own local flair to introduce us to people and places we may never visit.

Did You Know?

Illinois just happens to be the top producer of pumpkins in the entire country. Oddly, I haven’t seen too many pumpkin farms around this area but we’re certainly not short on corn or soybeans either.

One of our favorite fall events in central Illinois is the Fall Pumpkin Festival hosted for 2 days at Washington Park in Springfield, IL. Every year the weekend before, thousands of locals come out to carve as many pumpkins as they can. All are welcome and the display on the following weekend shows a variety of carving styles from cute kiddie carvings to some very professional ones. This year, we skipped out doing the carving as the weather was just too cold for my little ones but we did make it to the festival itself.

Walking through the paths and checking out the thousands of pumpkins lit up at the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is really an amazing site. Our oldest was particular interested in these two, Frankenstein and Darth Vader.

Of course it just wouldn’t be a Davis family outing without a little mishap, fortunately it wasn’t one of the kids that caused it. My dear husband decided to touch the pumpkin head scarecrow prop and the poor things head rolled right off. I managed to snap a picture just as he reattached the head.

Overall it really is a beautiful and fun event. Along the paths of lit jack-o-lanterns are a few tasty spots including a Pease’s candy shop tent complete with caramel popcorn and caramel apples. Just a little further down you can warm up in a covered tent serving chili and hot dogs.

It wasn’t all perfect though. Our toddler had a run in with a this terribly ghoulish character on stilts, like something out of Tales from the Crypt and went into a fit of fear. Honestly, I’m very disappointed in the lack of understanding that this is a family friendly event that shouldn’t include things so frightening for young children.

Despite the creepy Crypt Keeper look alike, my favorite part of the event is the water fountain area. In the water they add spooky bubbles and carved pumpkins propped up on bricks. Who knew you had to have the steadiness of a brain surgeon to take a night photo? Well, I didn’t, but I think this photo turned out pretty interesting at least.

And of course, a Springfield event wouldn’t be complete without an Abraham Lincoln sighting. Yep, some amazing person carved Abraham Lincoln’s face right into a pumpkin.