{"id":34845,"date":"2019-10-08T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/?p=34845"},"modified":"2019-10-17T10:36:03","modified_gmt":"2019-10-17T15:36:03","slug":"great-highwood-pumpkin-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmatter.com\/chicago\/great-highwood-pumpkin-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Carve Out Some Time for the Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival This Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are plenty of fall festivals happening all over Illinois, but the Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival<\/a> is bringing something special to its attendees: they’re\u00a0attempting to break a Guinness\u00a0World Record.<\/p>\n

The current record<\/a> for the most pumpkins carved and lit at once is\u00a030,851 and was achieved by the city of Keene, New Hampshire, in 2013. Highwood is aiming to be the next record holder this year, but they need your help. While they do have thousands of pumpkins on site already, it won’t be enough to break the world record, so they’re offering free admission<\/em> for the whole weekend to every person\u00a0who brings their own carved pumpkin to the festival! With over 70,000 estimated attendees this year, they might actually do it.<\/p>\n

The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival is located right in downtown Highwood<\/a>, and while it technically runs from October 11 – 13 all weekend long, you can also attend the Community Appreciation Night on October 10 to take part in a special run of events. This includes free admission, as well as last-minute pumpkin carving, live music, and a cash bar.<\/p>\n

\"Great
Photo Credit: Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After you’ve dropped off your carved pumpkin with the other masses, feel free to indulge in all of the other festival\u00a0activities<\/a>. Sign your kid, your pet, or even yourself up for the various costume contests and make sure they get a chance to meet Batwoman on Saturday morning! While you’re wandering through the festival, you can snap a selfie with the giant, 8-foot-tall pumpkin, appreciate the live music, and try all of the carnival rides. There is also a Tom Petty tribute band at 2 pm on Saturday, a pie-eating contest<\/a> on Saturday at 3 pm, and a delightful Kid Zone that’s open all weekend long.<\/p>\n

If you’re really ambitious, be sure to sign up<\/a> for the\u00a0Superhero 5k Run\/Walk on Saturday morning in honor of hometown hero Superman Sam Sommer, who lost his young life to cancer in 2013.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of food vendors<\/a> attending the festival, so you can indulge in local favorites like\u00a0Tala Coffee Roasters<\/a> and\u00a0Judy’s Pizzeria<\/a>, plus trick-or-treating all throughout the grounds. And don’t forget to register to vote at their info booth!<\/p>\n

Admission at the gate is just $5 per day. The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival benefits the Make-A-Wish<\/a> foundation. Many of the proceeds for sales and admission will go to this organization.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.<\/p>\n

Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!<\/span><\/p>\n

Featured Image Credit: Great Highwood Pumpkin Fest<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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There are plenty of fall festivals happening all over Illinois, but the Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival is bringing something special to its attendees: they’re\u00a0attempting to break a Guinness\u00a0World…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2279,"featured_media":34850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26323,755],"tags":[7330,7324,7329,7320,7328,7323,7322,7325,7327,3031,7321,7326],"class_list":["post-34845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-category-fall-hub","category-category-things-to-do","tag-5k-run","tag-fall-festival","tag-festival-activities","tag-great-highwood-pumpkin-festival","tag-guinness-world-record","tag-halloween-festival","tag-highwood","tag-highwood-festival","tag-judys-pizzeria","tag-pumpkin-carving","tag-pumpkin-fest","tag-tala-coffee-roasters"],"yoast_head":"\nCarve Out Some Time for the Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival This Weekend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the most carved and lit pumpkins. 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