CITY OF HIGHWOOD, IL GEARS UP TO BREAK WORLD RECORD!
First Annual Pumpkin Fest to be Prelude to 2010 World Record Breaking Event
for the Most Jack-O-Laterns Carved, Lit and on Display!
WHAT: HIGHWOOD FIRST ANNUAL PUMPKIN FESTIVAL:
A Night of Magic and Light
Be a part of pumpkin carving history, as the City of Highwood hosts the
Prelude to the Great Pumpkin Festival of 2010. Area partygoers big and
small will join together to carve over 1,000 pumpkins that will light up
the “Great Wall of Pumpkins,” one of Chicagoland’s largest
exhibitions of jack-o-lanterns, that will be displayed on a three story
high by 90 foot wide wall of scaffolding in downtown Highwood.
WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 21st from 3 pm to 8 pm
Highwood’s Farmers Market, Downtown Highwood
Pumpkins can be purchased for $5 and carved in the tent from 3-6:30 pm or
bring your own to add to the great wall.
Lighting of the “Great Wall of Pumpkins” 6:30 p.m.
Trick or Treat Downtown Highwood 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Hayrides 3:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Live Music 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Families and friends dressed in Halloween costumes, will enjoy
special event
discounts and specials at local restaurants, bars and retailers
throughout
Highwood.
The “Great Wall of Pumpkins” will be on display at the City Park across
from
Highwood City Hall, 17 Highwood Avenue, Wednesday, October 21, 2009. The
elaborate production will take place during Highwood’s last Farmers
Market of
the year, an event in itself one blogger called the “Taste of Chicago
without the
exorbitant prices, microscopic portions, and pushy crowds.” Activities
include:
farmers market vendors selling their goods, trick or treating through the
town,
continued pumpkin carving, hay rides, live music, hot cider and chocolate,
and
the lighting of the pumpkins at 6:30 pm. Festivities will carry on until 8
pm.
Pre-event pumpkin carving will begin at Highwood’s Last Call Art Festival
on October 17 and 18 from 10 am to 5 pm, at a 30 foot long booth set up for
carving pumpkin masterwork. For five dollars a pumpkin, children and
adults will both be able to craft and carve to their heart’s content.
Pumpkins will be brought to the “Great Wall of Pumpkins” to be put on
display for the October 21st lighting event.
After the event and through October 23rd, families can retrieve their
carved pumpkins to take home, while remaining pumpkins will be donated to
local families or composted with The Resource Center of Chicago, a
non-profit, environmental organization, www.resourcecenterchicago.org.
WHY: This year is a test run in preparation for the Great Pumpkin Festival
of 2010. Festival planners are priming themselves to break the Guinness
World Record effort of the most lit pumpkins in one place simultaneously.
The City of Highwood envisions over 1,000 pumpkins this year, with the goal
of lighting over 32,000 pumpkins in 2010.
HOW: For a five dollar fee participants can purchase and carve a pumpkin
at one of three pre-event carving stations: Highwood’s Last Call Art
Festival October 17 and 18th from 10 am to 5 pm, Oak Terrace School’s Fun
Fair October 18th from noon to 4 pm, or at Highwood’s Farmers Market
October 21st from 3pm until the 6:30 lighting. All proceeds from the sale
of pumpkins, cider, hot chocolate and hayrides will help the City of
Highwood’s Special Events committee fund this and other community
projects.
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