(38) Visit 10 Festivals of Fairs (06/20)Festival: Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular
Website: http://www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org/jols/
When: October 6 - 31, 2011
Rating: 4-Stars
This past weekend Dan and I braved the two hour long line and experienced the amazing glow of over 5000 pumpkins all intricately carved with painstaking detail at the Roger Williams Park Zoo Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular. They were displayed according to this year’s theme of “A Journey Around The World”. It includes pumpkins of all different sizes from the smallest sugar pumpkins to the biggest pumpkin I have ever seen weighing in at over 1600 pounds all carved with iconic images of places and people from around the world and depicting scenes from the Seven Wonders of the World. It also included representations of nations from around the world including a European Vacation and a trip through the Great North complete with falling snow. The main centerpiece was the Laughing Tree with its branches covers with pumpkins and surrounded by its army of pumpkin followers.
The Spectacular was founded by John Reckner, an Oxford, Massachusetts postal carrier. Inspired by a Vermont farm he had seen lined with glowing jack o’ lanterns, Reckner organized the first Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular in Oxford in 1988. The 185 jack o’ lanterns featured in this first Spectacular were carved by local residents and displayed for only one evening on a hillside behind a local school. About 300 spectators attended. Today, Mr. Reckner, his family, and their crew of jack o’ lantern artists continue to bring the Spectacular to life, thrilling tens of thousands of visitors each October.
If you live anywhere within driving distance of Providence, RI it is definitely worth the trip. It is open nightly through Halloween night beginning at 6 pm (be aware that weekends have long lines) and going until 10 pm for a cost of $14 for adults. Use your AAA Membership to save $2.
No comments:
Post a Comment