Southern California Pumpkin Carving Time!

It’s now October and folks are thinking about pumpkin carving for Halloween, a holiday which merchants have been pushing for weeks now. This started me recalling the last couple of Octobers and how much I enjoyed going to the Rise of the Jack O’ Lanterns, a pumpkin carving extravaganza which occurs in several cities on the east and west coasts.  I really enjoyed these events so  I thought I would give you a little look back in case you want to go this year.  My experiences were at Descanso Gardens in La Canada but the venue changes from year to year so double check to see if there’s one near you.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  I was going to talk about the last two events and give you a sense of what this is all about.  Obviously pumpkins are involved.  Lots of them.

The carving is intricate and a number of pumpkins are often used to create the desired effect.  These could be standing figures, vehicles, zombies, dragons, sea creatures, or even fossils.  Here are some great dinosaur designs from the 2014 display.  The raptor is really into his part.

I also like the ferns and other plants in the foreground of the tableau.  These too are made with pumpkins.

How is this done?  Well, at each of the events I’ve attended we ticketholders were given a chance to watch pumpkin carvers at work.  They have a lot of tools some of which are similar to wood carving implements and others just basic kitchen utensils.  It all depends on what kind of cut is needed.  We could talk to these people while they worked although I don’t know how they could concentrate and field questions at the same time.

Don’t just sit around waiting for something different and special this season.  Looking for some Halloween fun?  Do you live near one of the Rise of the Jack O’Lantern locations?  Well, go out and take a look!

It may change your entire approach to pumpkin carving.

Happy October!