Fall Pumpkin Festival begins today at Conneaut Lake

Oct. 14—One of the largest fall festivals in northwestern Pennsylvania "paints" the grounds of Conneaut Lake Park orange this weekend.

The 31st edition of the Conneaut Lake Area Business Association's Fall Pumpkin Festival starts today at 2 p.m. on the amusement park's grounds off Route 618 and continues Saturday and Sunday with 10,000 visitors or more expected through the weekend.

Affectionately known as Pumpkin Fest, the family-oriented event features juried crafters, activities for kids, food vendors, and a wide variety of entertainment along with a Saturday morning parade in the borough.

The park's fabled carousel also will be operating.

Plus, where else in the region can one witness true pumpkin power as substantially-sized squash slam into vehicles?

Daily admission is $5 for adults and free for children age 12 and under. However, admission today is free for military, both active and retired with proper identification; first responders, with proper identification; and senior citizens, age 65 and older.

On both Saturday and Sunday afternoons, a gigantic pumpkin, weighing more than 1,000 pounds, will be dropped on a vehicle in a true display of squash-squashing strength.

The pumpkin drops always spark "oohs," "ahhs" and then applause from the crowd.

Changes with the amusement park's landscape this year have meant changes for Pumpkin Fest, too, as the park has cleared much of its land.

"The big thing about the pumpkin drop this year is you can see that crane from a long way off — so you know where the pumpkin drop is gonna be," Becky Leonard, the festival's chair, said with a laugh.

"We've had to rearrange things here at the park (this year) as Ghost Lake is here, too," Leonard said of the Halloween fright fest held weekend evenings at the park. "It's a little different this year, but different in my book is good."

This year features 135 vendors on the park's grounds spread out between Route 618 and the Comstock Street area of the park, Leonard said.

The number of vendors is a far cry from the first years of Pumpkin Fest when it had only a handful of vendors in a single tent down by Ice House Park at the eastern end of the borough.

Leonard is forecasting between 10,000 to 15,000 people from throughout the region will visit Pumpkin Fest.

"We get people who actually travel in to come to this," she said. "We get people out of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, out of New York (state) — we get them in from all over."

The festival is the biggest fundraiser for Conneaut Lake Area Business Association. It raises money to support businesses, community events and giveaways in the Conneaut Lake community including its Festival of the Arts held around the Fourth of July weekend, Leonard said.

YOU CAN GO

The 31st edition of the Fall Pumpkin Festival runs today from 2 to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the grounds of Conneaut Lake Park off Route 618 on the west side of Conneaut Lake.

Admission is $5 for adults and free for children age 12 and under. There is a $5 parking fee.

The Pumpkin Fest parade in downtown Conneaut Lake begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and travels along Water Street, the main street in the borough.

Pumpkin Fest's famed pumpkin drops are Saturday at 5 p.m. And Sunday at 4 p.m. at the park.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.