Ambushed

Thank you to Johnny, whose idea to post a picture of two guys and a cannon for today’s Photo Friday theme, Ambushed, gave me the nudge to dig this image out of my photographic archive. Every year at the Keene Pumpkin Festival, the cannon in Central Square gets ambushed by an army of carved pumpkins. Can you say “Make jack-o-lanterns, not war?”

 

Make way for pumpkins

Although the annual Pumpkin Festival doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, downtown Keene was abuzz early this morning with the bustle of Pumpkin Prep.

When else but early morning on All Pumpkin’s Eve can you see sleepy-eyed children from Saint Joseph’s School proudly parading their carved pumpkins down Main Street?

In Central Square, one lane is closed while workers construct one of four scaffold towers that by tomorrow night will be the source of Keene’s famed Gourd Glow.

Closer to the ground, workers assembled out spans of shelving to accommodate imminent pumpkin arrivals.

And in the spirit of “Build it, and they will come,” these Central Square shelves are already starting to fill with early-bird jack-o-lanterns.

In downtown’s Depot Square, local businesses have already set up their pumpkin calling cards, such as these elaborately carved pumpkins from Lee’s Mount Fuji Chinese restaurant.

And in the air above Depot Square, another pumpkin tower is well on its way to completion, filled with local-carved ‘kins that will light tonight’s Community Night: a chance for Keene residents to get a night-before sneak preview on tomorrow’s full-blown party.

As a flood of pumpkins begins to pool along Depot Square, I’m struck at how different today’s scene is from two weekend’s ago, when Jon Udell filmed part of his flood screencast from the parking structure in the background of this photo. Two weekends ago, a carload of college kids got their car swamped here on Railroad Street; this time tomorrow, Railroad Street will be closed to vehicular traffic as crowds of pedestrians inundate the place.

With the excitement level rising, it’s a good thing that the Pumpkin Festival’s official start isn’t far off. Here in Keene, the pumpkins are starting to get hungry.

 

After pumpkin picking

Yesterday was another of our recently rare rainfree days here in southern New Hampshire. So instead of making hay while the sun shone, Gary and I decided to go pumpkin picking.

Keene’s annual Pumpkin Festival is this Saturday, so yesterday we were looking for not just one but three pumpkins to carve and bring to the festival: one for me, one for Gary, and one for Reggie. When you’re trying to smash a world record, it’s important that you think in terms of both number and quantity, selecting just the right pumpkin (or just the right three pumpkins) to add to the collective effort.

Given the selection in gourmet gourds these days, pumpkin picking is no easy task. During a tour of two separate farmstands, Gary and I found pumpkins in unusual colors…

eye-catching patterns…

and even surprising sizes.

If your tastes run more toward the squash end of the spectrum, there are still gourds a-plenty to satisfy your vegetable cravings.

And if you think that these alluringly arranged pumpkins are free for the taking, think again. Although there are gourds galore on display, there are also Gourd Guardians to ward off admirers with sticky fingers.

 

Make way for pumpkins

Yep, it’s that time of year again: time when the pumpkins appear in New England. Although I photographed these painted pumpkins at a farmstand in Hollis, NH after failing to scare up any ghosts at Pine Hill Cemetery, Keene is the official home for all things pumpkin. Keene’s annual Pumpkin Festival is the biggest event of the entire year: last year the Festival smashed its own World Record by assembling a jaw-dropping 28,952 lit jack-o’-lanterns. During the Pumpkin Fest, downtown streets are closed to vehicular traffic while crews set up scaffolds and shelves to display the carved pumpkins brought in by locals and tourists alike. While busses and horse-drawn wagons shuttle visitors (and their pumpkins) to and from outlying parking areas, Downtown Keene becomes a huge promenade where pedestrians admire carved gourds in the brisk New England air.

In a word, the Pumpkin Festival is a Big Deal. Keene has a population of 20,000, and last year some 70,000 people (and those 28,952 lit jack-o’-lanterns) converged for the festival. Although outsiders sometimes complain about the inconvenience of having to park and then shuttle in from outside town, the logistics of this event run like clockwork. Even though the human population of town more than tripled during last year’s festival, everyone I saw strolling the streets was having a good time. There’s something magical about turning a street into a huge sidewalk where people can mix and mingle over the oohs and ahhs inspired by some of the more imaginative pumpkin creations. (For a sampling of anonymously-submitted pumpkin pictures from last year’s festival Photo Gallery, click here or here or here.)

If nothing else, it’s wonderful to see crowds of people enjoying Keene in her autumnal glory. (For more anonymously submitted festival photos, click here or here or here. This year’s festival is on Saturday, October 23, so there’s still time to save the date and make the necessary travel arrangements. What better time for New Hampshire and New England bloggers to hit the streets for a Downtown Keene meet-up?