2008: Pumpkin Festival puts Keene on the map

By Sentinel staff

The arrival of Pumpkin Festival has a warming effect, like the aroma of coffee brewing in a morning kitchen. It brings out the party planner in so many of us, the kid in so many adults, and it serves, if nothing else, as the perfect adjournment before the racket that comes next: tumbling temperatures, snow and ice, and out-of-whack home-heating costs.

Never doubt the power of the pumpkin.

Keene certainly won’t. The two, after all, have become synonymous — Google friends forever.

Keene always did know how to throw a party. For Pumpkin Festival, the sense of community and civic pride swell and merge to create a powerful ripple effect. The city’s many devoted volunteers have proven that enthusiasm, foresight, resolve and strength in numbers make for a can’t-lose combination.

But we’re not sure anyone saw this coming.

Pumpkin Festival began as a modest event for the people of Keene and its neighbor-town friends. It was great fun, and sure proof that there is more than one way to carve, cook and stack a pumpkin.

Eighteen years later, all of that has changed. Keene’s once cozy little celebration has gained world-wide stature. It is, for lack of a better word, a spectacle. Crowds number in the tens of thousands, elbow-room-only at times.

Its story is carried in newspapers and magazines near and far ... its history is still being told.

The pickings are plenty: food, entertainment, crafts, contests, costumes and pumpkin-carving handiwork that ranges from kindergarten-simple to jaw-dropping.

Then there is the business of the world record for most lit jack-o’-lanterns. The pursuit to better the previous year’s effort became all-consuming. Keene hit its own personal ceiling in 2003, when 28,952 carved creations illuminated downtown, creating a truly mystical setting. Keene had hit the big time.

Suddenly, foliage wasn’t the only reason to travel to northern New England in October, and the pumpkin curious flocked to Keene by car, bus and plane.

The pumpkin capital of the world became a postcard unto itself, withstanding all challenges to its record tally amid a growing visitors’ list.

Then, two years ago, while a crowd estimated at close to 80,000 (more than three times the city’s population) was bobbing and weaving through Keene’s pumpkin-lined Main Street, big bad Boston, population more than a half million, was trying to feel good about having eclipsed Keene’s record count.

But Boston’s standard is no doubt a record without charm. For pure pumpkin magic, there’s only one kingdom, and that’s Keene.

Welcome to Pumpkin Festival 2008. Enjoy this special guide, sample the wonderful array of festival food and entertainment, and find your inner child.

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