EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton’s beloved annual Harvest Festival is returning Saturday, Oct. 10 at Nonotuck Park for another year of fall celebrations for the community.
Once again, the public is invited to gather at Nonotuck Park for a nice fall afternoon featuring various arts, crafts and goods vendors, horse carriage rides, face painting and balloon twisting, live music, drink options from New City Brewery and food trucks. The bonfire at 5 p.m. will close out the afternoon of festivities.
As always, the Pumpkin Carving Contest will also return where competitors of all ages can enter to win a trophy, a goody bag and a 2027 park pass. To enter, participants must bring a carved pumpkin (no stencils) from 1-4 p.m. to Pavilion 1. Winners will be announced at 4:20 p.m., and categories this year include Disney — princesses to “Star Wars” — horror (scary or gross), and traditional jack-o’-lanterns.
Easthampton Parks and Recreation Director John Mason told Reminder Publishing the event’s origins date back to when it was known as the Pumpkin Festival in 2011.
“It was born after watching the show ‘Parks and Recreation’. Sam Pliska [Easthampton Parks and Recreation Principal Clerk] saw the Harvest Fest show and knew we needed to fill a gap for community events,” Mason explained. “It started small and grew each year to its current scale.”
Mason added the department tried to time the event so it wouldn’t interfere with the Rag Shag Parade, the beloved community tradition celebrating Halloween.
“With the Park Director fully on board, we started what is now an annual city event. The first year we had people bring in carved pumpkins, which were lit around the park loop. Year after year we changed and updated it to make it flow better adding food, vendors, music and a bonfire,” Mason said. “Of course, we still have the heart of the festival, which is the pumpkin carving contest, a tiny nod to Keene’s Pumpkin Fest.”
Mason said he expects another festival with big community crowds, great weather and more live music than ever before as bands Shutterack and Storm the Ohio will be performing, and DJ Nick Spins will offer “Spooky Beats” from 4-6 p.m. A rain date is set for the following day, Sunday, Oct. 11 and would be announced on the city’s social media pages.
For more information or to become a vendor, email parksandrec@easthamptonma.gov.
Mason added he hopes to see another great turnout and for the public to take advantage of all the vendors on site, and a fun fall community gathering in this year’s Harvest Festival.
“We hope that every year it not only runs smoothly and everyone has a wonderful time, but also that the weather cooperates so we can have the bonfire,” Mason said. “We love that we can hold this event and keep it free for families, and we hope that even a small event like this can become a local family tradition for many more years.”
