Pumpkins Aglow to dazzle Franklin Park Conservatory guests
Pumpkin-carving is serious business at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.
In preparation for its annual Pumpkins Aglow event, about 70 staff members and additional volunteers go to work on about 1,000 pumpkins.
The jack-o-lanterns are scattered throughout the always-beautiful grounds of the conservatory for the event, which takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays through Sundays starting Oct. 13 and continuing until Oct. 31. Masks are not required for vaccinated
individuals while outside the conservatory (where the bulk of things to see and do take place). Advance registration of tickets at www.fpconservatory.org are urged.
Pumpkins Aglow is intended as a family-friendly nighttime complement to the ongoing Harvest Blooms event, in which some 3,500 pumpkins can be viewed at the conservatory during daylight hours. Sanfillipo Produce Co., a Columbus wholesaler, provides all pumpkins.
When visitors make their way through the Pumpkins Aglow displays, though, they will be treated to autumnal ambience beyond the carefully carved, creepily lit gourds.
“You're going to see a lot of carved pumpkins with funny faces,” said Director of Horticulture and Exhibitions Karin Noecker. “That's all complemented with lighting and music.”
And, by “music,” Noecker means sounds that might send a tingle up your spine.
“We have a witch area, so in that area, the ‘music' is laughing witches,” she said. “We have our creek in the Children's Garden. We're making it into a fog experience . ... We have cricket-y sounds — spooky Halloween sounds.”
Two Pumpkin Houses — one larger, one smaller — are structures festooned in pumpkins from top to bottom. And watch out for three large glow-in-thedark spiders that might be hanging around the grounds.
Guest entertainers will take advantage of the after-dark ambience. Scheduled to perform from 6 to 8 p.m. will be a fire performer and fortune-teller on Oct. 13-17; LED light dancers and Halloween stilt walkers, Oct. 20-24; and a sway pole witch, Oct. 27-31.
“We are focusing more on roaming entertainment,” Noecker said. “Part of that is because of COVID — just trying to spread out the experience a little bit.”
A small bag of Halloween treats will be provided to children between the ages of 2 and 12 who arrive on Oct. 30 or 31.
To keep visitors satiated as they gander at the gourds and take in other sights and sounds, Charlie's Kettle Corn and multiple food trucks will be on hand nightly.
Conservatory officials are expecting high turnout based on the popularity of last year's “Pumpkins Aglow,” which, because it was outdoors, proceeded in spite of the pandemic.
“We just blew it out of the water (last year),” Noecker said. “It was fantastic.”
tonguetteauthor2@aol.com