Arboretum Holds Annual Pumpkin Festival

The Arboretum at Penn State held its annual Pumpkin Festival on Friday and Saturday, offering food, live music and an array of jack-o’-lanterns entered into the competition by a wide variety of age groups.

Take a glimpse around the festival to see what the event had to offer with photos by Onward State’s Mikey DeAngelis.

The Arboretum was decked out in festive fall decorations. This colorful array of pumpkins, gourds and many others like it will be out all season, not just for the festival weekend.

The jack-o’-lantern competition had a wide range of categories for kids, students, and adults alike. “Angler Fish” was a popular idea this year, as was the burning Elmo meme.

Many jack-o’-lantern artists creatively utilized other pumpkins or other parts of the pumpkin to add to their concepts.

Many of the kids in the children’s age group had fun using paint to add to their designs, leading to some creative designs that incorporated both carvings and paints.

Adults got in on the painting, too.

The entire display featured an array of carvings that utilized many creative techniques.

Some of the designs were particularly terrifying…

The event also had some food options for guests.

Tables on the lawn offered great spots where people could relax, enjoy their food and drinks and take in the beautiful Happy Valley sunset.

One of the festival highlights was the cider stand.

Winners of the jack-o’-lantern competition were selected in seven age categories as well as best in show, best Arboretum theme, best pop culture theme and best Penn State theme.