If an alien happened to visit West Michigan during the month of October, his report back to the mother ship would surely describe an obsession with a bulbous orange gourd called the pumpkin. Hoards of people voyage to a produce market or outside in a patch, take great care on inspecting the various shapes and sizes of pumpkins, then haul their favorite home, only to scoop out the stringy guts, carve a face on it, then light a candle within its new cranium.
As if this isn’t a strange enough ritual, humans continue their fascination by displaying the pumpkins in front of their dwellings, roasting seeds and baking pies from the orange flesh, traveling to neighbor’s homes to view other pumpkin creations and some even hurl them to the ground, delighting in the explosion of pumpkin parts. There are also social events in honor of the revered vegetable that are attended throughout the month as well.
Fall Family Funday
City of Holland Farmers Market
150 West 8th Street, Holland
Oct. 3, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Admission free
hollandfarmersmarket.com
Start off the month of pumpkin preoccupation at the Holland Farmer’s Market, celebrating the start of autumn. This carnivalesque event is packed with activities for your fall-loving fam. Have your face painted to get in the festive mood. Inspire some creativity at the kids’ craft station and test your family’s precision (and frustration-threshold) at the “Needle in a Haystack” candy hunt and bean bag toss games.
It wouldn’t be a true observance of fall without some pumpkin worship. Expert pumpkin carvers demonstrate different ways to design and display the lovely fruit. If you want to paint your gourd, there’s pumpkin painting. If you want to fill your face with pies made of the round squash, there’s a pumpkin pie eating contest. Fall Family Funday is sure to fulfill your family’s pumpkin pleasures.
6th Annual Pumpkin Path
Lamar Park
2561 Porter Street, Wyoming
Oct. 10, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
Admission free
wyomingmi.gov
Throw on a light jacket and enjoy the fall colors with a family stroll through the paths of Lamar Park. More than 3,000 children are expected to visit the pumpkin path to view tons of pumpkins in the carving competition. You can display your family’s whittling wiles by dropping off your finished jack-o-lantern, carved or decorated, at Lamar Shelter near the splashpad between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. the day of the event. Pumpkins will be judged in age groups, with a special category for families who work together on their creation. Winners of each category receive ribbons and bragging rights and are displayed with the competition along the park paths. Local businesses host spaces along the path luring your visit with goody-bags, toys and prizes.
Prodigious Pumpkins
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
1000 East Beltline Avenue, Grand Rapids
Oct. 17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; October 18, 12 p.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: Adults: $12, Children 5-13: $6, Children 3-4: $4
meijergardens.org
Witness some true freaks of nature when you visit Frederik Meijer Gardens. A collection of pumpkin anomalies displayed along the paths of the garden amaze your whole family. They don’t even need carving to thrill you; their sizes are monstrous, weighing hundreds of pounds. Besides the giant gourds, your children are entertained with interactive activities, including a search around the farm for fun pumpkin facts.
Extreme Pumpkin Carving
Barnes & Noble
3195 28th Street, Grand Rapids
Oct. 10, 7 p.m.
Admission free
barnesandnoble.com
Tom Nardone, who proved his pumpkin-carving celebrity on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” promises tricks and treats when he visits Barnes and Noble for his “Extreme Pumpkin Carving” demonstration. Your family is sure to have the coolest pumpkin on the block when you use the designs witnessed at this event. With power tools and pyrotechnics, this is not your average jack-o-lantern experience. When the expert squash artist pulls out his chain saw and blow torch, your whole family is in for a hair-raising time. This pumpkin demonstration inspires you to go outside of the box when it comes to carving and out of the way when Nardone lights his pumpkin creations on fire. While he’s there, Nardone will autograph one of his three Extreme Halloween books available at the event.
