Louisville Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular 2017: Pumpkins Galore!
By Noah Wullkotte
The annul Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular is a festival featuring professionally carved pumpkins. There are 5,000 jack-o’-lanterns that decorate Iroquois Park. This walking trail is 1,500 foot long and some of the trees are decorated with laser lights. It looks like lightning bugs that are flying. Each section is themed after a letter in the alphabet. F is for Fairy Tales, L is for Legends, X is for X-Men and so on. Each area has its own soundtrack. When you pass the pumpkin with Freddy Mercury, Queen music starts to play. The Yard Birds section has a barn in the background. You’ll even see a massive octopus holding jack-o’-lanterns on each tentacle in the Sea section. There are pumpkins everywhere. They’re in trees, in a castle and some areas have dense fog.
This is a fun event and there are plenty of concessions available including popcorn, deep fried food, hot apple cider and more. We went on the Saturday after Halloween and it was pretty crowded. We felt like we were on a conveyor belt as we looked at all the amazing pumpkins. We were in a single file line waiting for the people in front of us to take pictures with their cell phones. The paths are pretty narrow, but it wasn’t too bad. Sometimes you’ll see simple jack-o’-lanterns on one side and then the other side will feature more professional pumpkins. These jack-o’-lanterns are works of art. The majority don’t use actual candles and many have colored cloth to give them a Halloween glow.
(A fierce lion roars!)
The Louisville’ Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular is mesmerizing. It can be quite overwhelming at times. There’s so much to take in that it’s impossible to see everything in one visit. There’s a reason why people all over the country visit the Louisville Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular. It’s breath taking and fun for the entire family. We recommend that you experience this amazing event on a weekday when it’s less crowded. There’s nothing else like it in Kentucky. Proceeds benefit the Louisville Parks Foundation.
Please visit www.jackolanternlouisville.com for information on pricing, dates, directions and more. This unique event started in 1988 in Oxford, Massachusetts and now there are Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular events at locations all over the country. Pumpkins are a symbol of Halloween and the artistry at this event is SPECTACULAR!
Click here to view pictures of the 2017 Louisville Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular.