Pumpkin Palooza

The free, family-friendly fall extravaganza, Pumpkin Palooza, will once again take over Titletown this Saturday, Oct. 11, offering an opportunity for community members to connect over all that fall has to offer.

“Especially in our land, [fall] is all about football, but there is more to the fall season than just football,” said Titletown Events Manager Jessica Dickhut. “All of our events are very community-based and for our community and what we can offer… A neat part about [Pumpkin Palooza] is that we provide pumpkin carving free for the public so there’s not anything that you need to go and purchase — the pumpkins, the carving kits, all of the supplied — and that’s a really great way to bring people out and start conversations. We do community-style carving tables so you have to get to know the people next to you. It’s really great to see people talking and engaging with each other… We’re really grateful to be able to provide that for our community so they can just come out and enjoy the event and enjoy the fall.”

The event, which is scheduled to run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., will feature a variety of fall activities for attendees of all ages to enjoy, including the return of free pumpkin carving.

Pumpkins for carving will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so Dickhut recommends that anyone hoping to carve a pumpkin should plan to arrive towards the beginning of the event.

“With the weather looking as beautiful as it is right now, we expect the pumpkins to go fast…” Dickhut said. “We try to order as many as we can… but we have run out in the past so I’d definitely say do the carving [early].”

Pumpkins carved during Pumpkin Palooza will be used to create a display for the community to enjoy.

“The big feature of Pumpkin Palooza every year is creating the one-of-a-kind public art display,” Dickhut said. “We never know what it’s going to look like because it all depends on what the community carves and so every year it’s different.”

And this year, the pumpkin display may be seen by people across the country.
“What’s really neat about that is with [the Packers] having a home game the next day, usually CBS will come out and get some network coverage so there’s potential that you might see your pumpkin on live coverage or national TV for the game,” Dickhut said. “I always think that’s really cool, because who has a chance to have their art displayed on national television otherwise?”

And even after pumpkin carving has concluded, there are plenty of other activities for Pumpkin Palooza attendees to enjoy, including carnival and giant games, fall crafts, face painting, a caricature artist, fall photo ops, live music and an opportunity to explore a variety of different big vehicles.

“Our fan-favorite trunk-or-treat and touch-a-truck activities will be back and we have even more trunks and trucks this year for the event,” Dickhut said.

“Last year, I think we had 20 or 25 and this year we’re up to even more vehicles provided by a lot of our local businesses and our public works and police and everyone in between. There’s a ton of cool trucks this year and all the trucks will be handing out candy… We have so many cool vehicles coming out — I believe we have SWAT cars coming out from the police department and we have a boat that’s coming and these massive semis. It’s really quite cool because most people have never spent time in a SWAT car or an everyday squad car or all the different [vehicles]. It’s really cool to get to go in and experience it and see all the technology.”

Several food and beverage options will be available for purchase throughout the park with Titletown’s tenant restaurants open and a variety of food trucks onsite.

Pumpkin Palooza attendees are also invited to enjoy “Mi Casa, Your Casa 2.0,” the traveling art installation inspired by the lively street markets of Latin America.

As part of Titletown’s Get Creative presented by Elevate97, the interactive installation, created by Esrawe + Cadena and powered by Creos, is open to community members and visitors through Oct. 12.