The Milford Pumpkin Festival is back for the 33rd year
By Katelyn Sahagian
ksahagian@hippopress.com
The Milford Pumpkin Festival is back for the 33rd year of celebrating everything autumn.
Wade Campbell, the president of the festival committee, said he was thrilled to bring the festival back in its full glory.
“[The festival] brings people in and lets people know we’re Milford,” Campbell said. “To me, we have the best pumpkin festival.”
This year, there will be more than 200 vendors selling everything from handmade crafts to delicious foods (including one of Campbell’s favorites, a specialty soda truck that does nothing but different flavors of root beer.) The vendors are across the five locations that the fair takes over each year in the downtown area.
Booths will also be set up from local nonprofits, like fundraisers for the local schools and historical society.
The opening night ceremonies on Friday are extravagant, Campbell said, including the pumpkin runner, someone who will run a path through town to get to town hall and “light” it up for the festivities. Campbell said that it was the festival’s take on the Olympic runner, followed by the usual induction ceremony activities.
Each of the locations offers different activities, said Campbell. There is live music and entertainment at three of the locations; a beer, wine, and spirits tasting; the pumpkin weigh-off at the Community House Lawn; a rubber duck race (water levels permitting) at Middle Street and town hall, and the haunted trail at Emerson Park.
All of the locations are within walking distance of each other, and there will be free parking locations at several locations in town with buses shuttling people back and forth.
Campbell said it’s important to him and his organization to not forget about the town that they are in and the local businesses that are in the area. He said that, because they close every road besides Route 13, he encourages businesses to remain open and take advantage of the foot traffic.
While the festival has grown over the years, back when the fair was initially started, it was not much more than a small festival surrounding the pumpkin weigh-off, Campbell said. The festival was begun by a group trying to raise money for building a new town hall.
Campbell said he’d only attended one festival, in 1996, and had never been to another, until his team took over the fair
“We came in not knowing anything about it … honestly we didn’t have any idea what we were doing,” Campbell said. “We’ve taken it from what they had and accelerated it to the next level.”
Even with the size of the festival right now, Campbell said he would love to find a way to grow it even larger. His biggest issue is finding more space.
For right now, he’s just excited to be having another great festival.
“Honestly, watching how much fun people have, that’s my favorite part of the festival,” Campbell said. “The community spirit, people coming down to enjoy it and everyone that gets involved, there’s nothing like it.”
Milford Pumpkin Festival
Where: Downtown Milford, 1 Union Square, Milford
When: Friday, Oct. 7, from 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Price: Admission is free
Visit: milfordpumpkinfestival.org
Featured photo: Scarecrows from the Milford Pumpkin Festival. Courtesy photo.