Written by: Eric Burke
It is hard to believe that the summer is almost over and the leaves will be falling off of the trees sooner rather than later. Fall is a time where everyone gets back into their normal routine and buckles down for those dreaded New England Winters. I have to admit that fall may be my favorite time of the year. Some reasons are that Football starts, Kids are back at school (thank god), fall foliage, Apple Picking, Pumpkin beer, etc…. Another reason that this is one of my favorite times is because of the Keene Pumpkin Festival.
Now the first time I attended this festival I was a college student and I can tell you I honestly don’t remember much of it. Those were my glory days and I can assure you I had quite a good time and didn’t look at any pumpkins. Although this was quite fun, I enjoy it just as much now when I go with my family and marvel at the number of pumpkins they light up at one given time. The Keene pumpkin festival originated the world record category for the most carved pumpkins with its record 
of 600 in 1991. In 2009 the festival lit 29,762. Many communities have imitated Keene’s success and Highwood Illinois broke the record last year with 30,919. Now Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so we don’t hold any grudges up here in the Keene area. However, this year we need to break the record and reclaim our spot back on top as the leader in the most lit jack-o-lanterns in the country
Another exciting aspect of the festival this year is the addition of HGTV creating “pumpkin Wars”. The special one hour show will be hosted by property brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott. Drew will be in Keene while Jonathan in Highwood as the two cities compete for the Guinness world record. If every person of the roughly 80,000 attendees brings a measly pumpkin then we can surely regain our dominance. Pumpkin fest occurs on Saturday October 20th from noon to eight thirty pm in downtown Keene. This is a great family event that you surely won’t regret attending. 
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