Sunday, October 22, 2006

Pumpkinfest 2006

Yesterday, I went to the 15th Annual Pumpkinfest held at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. I arrived late afternoon and stayed on into the evening. I took some photos while it was still light and some when it was dark and the pumpkins were lighted. Some were lighted so brightly that I didn't need to use my flash giving a uniquely different sensation. While I was there the Daisy Jug Band was playing which will be featured in an upcoming post. Below is the first photo installment of the many carved pumpkins at the festival. Before carving, these pumpkins weighed from a hundred to three hundred pounds. Pictures of the winning entries from last year can be seen at the Bucks County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence site. It is celebrated as the largest two day drug and alcohol-free event of its kind in Pennsylvania. It was also advertised on National Public Radio.








27 comments:

Michelle B said...

Who's for pumpkin soup? Very cool!

Anvilcloud said...

Now, those are some very fantastic pumpkins!

sage said...

Cool pumpkins! I am not going to show mine now!

Tim Rice said...

Thanks, michelle bialowas. Is there such a thing as pumpkin soup? I've never heard of it before. I love my mom's pumpkin pie and pumpkin gobs.

Thanks, anvilcloud. They are some pumpkins, aren't they now?

Hi, sage. If you mean you're just delaying till a little later, that's okay. But I think it a shame if you mean you not going show yours at all now. You don't mean that, right? I don't do pumpkin carving myself at all; but for people who do, I always enjoy seeing it simple or complicated. :)

Lori Witzel said...

Yowza, amazing pumpkins!

You did good to catch and share these, now I'm having pumpkin-carving-skill envy!

Anonymous said...

Hi Tim! Those pumpkins are fabulous! I enjoyed going through the photos. c",)

P.S. Pumpkin soup's pretty popular where I'm from. :p

sage said...

Tim, I haven't carved a pumpkin, but that's generally an activity I do with my daughter. I also love cooking with pumpkin--cookies, muffins, soups, etc.

Mostly, I was making a joke at my expense when I said I wasn't going to show my pumpkins. Now I will feel obligated to show it! Just don't expect much. :)

Annie said...

Okay, I'm in total awe. Whoever carved these pumpkins - well, I bow before them.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Now that is pumpkin art!!!

Ginnie Hart said...

They are definitely incredible, Tim. Think of all those roasted pumpkin seeds!

We carve pumpkins with Nicholas this next Sunday night. A regular ritual for him by now (6 years old).

Reflex said...

Woah, excellent! Amazing pumpking art.

Murf said...

I can't believe I have the pumpkin carving talent of Sage. I no longer carve them because even I get tired of the triangle eyes, upside down triangle nose, typical mouth with square teeth, etc.

I loved the picture of the first pumpkin.

Cher said...

amazing photos Tim...how talented and creative these carvers are!

Anonymous said...

oh man these are awesome pumpkin pictures .. great pumpkin artttttttt .. man these people are creative. See with this type of art, one can't erase a crooked line .. but they have to be skillful throughout their design.

Tim Rice said...

Hi, lori witzel. They are amazing carved pumpkins. These people have skill and a sense of art.

Thanks, irene. These artists definitely knew how to be creative. As for pumpkin soup, I had never heard of it before I read the responses to this post. But I googled it and noted that there are lots of different recipes out there for different kinds of pumpkin soup. I saw one called Honey Mustard Pumpkin Soup. I printed it out and will have to try it.

Hi, sage. I'm not used to you using humor on my page; so I took you more more seriously than I should have. Sorry. Do feel free to use humor like that in the future; maybe you you could just code me in with the emoticon ;) since I am apparently a bit dense here. :) Changing subjects, did you ever make pumpkin patties? [same thing as fried potato pattie but pumpkin and a bit more flour instead of mashed potatoes]

Hi, annie. It is awesome. I think there was about sixteen to twenty different people who exhibited carved pumpkins at this skill level.

Hi, abandoned in pasadena. You are certainly correct. These pumpkin carvers are definitely artists.

Thanks, ginnie. They definitely were incredible to see in person. And I can begin to imagine how many seeds there may have been in all these pumpkins. I can remember my dad carving pumpkins with us children, too. I'm sure you will have fun doing it in conjunction with your Nicholas, too. It's a great activity to do with children.

Hi, reflex. It is amazing pumpkin art. Did you note the one that says "Peace on Earth" and has lots of doves carved on it. I'm wondering whether that one may have been done by either a Quaker or a Mennonite from the local area here. It wouldn't have to have been but the peace theme really fits with the beliefs and some outreaches of those two faiths.

Hi, murf. That first pumpkin does have a certain attraction distinctive to itself. It's captivating with its sense of scariness; yet relatively simple in composition. It's good!

Thanks, cher. You're so right; this is art.

Hi, nabeel. It does take skill and precision to do it on this level. And you're so right that if one slips with the knife, that cut can't be undone but has to be worked with.

Murf said...

Tim, you just made Sage's day using the word 'humor' in reference to something that he did. ;-)

Hunter said...

Oh, my. Those are some of the best carved pumpkins I've ever seen.

Thanks for sharing.
Darilyn

Cergie said...

Weird ! Really !

How long it was for sculpingt so carrefully these pumpkins, I prefer not imagine it.

Charley & Marianne said...

OK....those are amazing! A few years ago when we were at our anual mission meeting the chefs had taken watermellons and done some very amazing carvings on them. I had never seen anything like it.

Back in Arkansas, where I'm from we have the Hope Watermellon Festival. I only know of two contests they have there with the watermellons. The first is for the largest. Hope claims to have the largest watermellons in the world. Some of them are either close to or over 200 lbs. I don't remember exactly. The other contest is a watermellon seed spitting contest!!! ....which is very entertaining, but not near as cultured as the pumpkin carving!

I think I'll write the committee that puts the festival together and suggest they add watermellon carving to the list of contests!!!

Anonymous said...

They are amazing, thanks so much for stopping and taking the shots!

Tim Rice said...

Hi, murf. You are just too much! ;)

Thanks, tropical screamer. Glad I could share the pleasure with you.

Hi, cergie. I'm sure it took some work; but it was creative work probably done with love.

Thanks, charlie. I never heard of watermelon carving before; but why not? And, hey, maybe you'll start something to be remembered with the Hope Watermelon Festival. I think it would be fun!

Thanks, John-Melbourne. It was a pleasure! :)

Charley & Marianne said...

If I can find the photos we took of the watermellon I will send you a copy. Maybe after we get back from China :-)

Tim Rice said...

Thanks, charlie. That sounds great. But I know that you are really busy and have a lot going right now. Prayers and best wishes to you.

christina said...

gorgeous pumpkins and beautiful photos, as always. Germans are also wild about pumpkin soup but they've never heard of pumpkin pie. Well, at least they hadn't until I came along. :-)

Tim Rice said...

Thanks, christina. Pumpkin pie is something every person should have a chance to enjoy! I would have thought that most everybody would know about pumpkin pie that knows about pumpkings. But I guess not. Of course, I didn't know about pumpkin soup either.

spicebear said...

oh wow! halloween is not a very big deal where i come from so i can honestly say i've never seen pumpkins carved that way. awesome!

Tim Rice said...

Hi, spicebear. Aren't those pumpkins awesome! I loved it! I bet though you have celebrations where you come from that are quite awesome, too.