Keene Pumpkin Festival is Saturday

The 18th annual Keene Pumpkin Festival will fill downtown Keene, New Hampshire, with an astonishing display of thousands of jack-o-lanterns from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. this Saturday. It’s one of those classic-type small town New England autumn events that has grown gloriously out of hand. (Above is our photo of last year’s pumpkin tower.)

The event was begun by the Keene Downtown Association to drum up business in 1991 with some 600 jack-o’-lanterns. It has gone on to establish a number of world records for its quantity, reaching 28,952 in 2003. (Boston topped Keene with 30,128 lit pumpkins in 2006.)

Related:
A rambling illustrated rumination on visiting last year’s festival.