The annual Keene Pumpkin Festival that took place on October 18 was a family-friendly, collaborative event with dozens of vendors and nonprofits set up, each offering their own products, artistic creations, food, fundraising and games.
People from around the greater Monadnock area and beyond showed up to enjoy the festivities, along with the hundreds of hand-carved pumpkins lined along the entirety of the downtown Keene area.
Andrew Gallen of the BY THE DOZEN print shop in Marlborough spoke about how well the event was going for him and the other vendors nearby. “The weather’s great, and there’s a huge crowd today.” He continued talking about some of the other businesses, such as Printorium Apparel in Milford and Ben’s Sugar Shack in Temple. “We’re all local people.”
Erin Boyle, owner of My Darling Threads, located in Keene, said that she’d done the festival before and went as a child. “I did this a few years back, but I always came to it growing up. It was really cool to become a vendor,” she said. My Darling Threads features a variety of embroidery products, from jewelry and key chains to baseball caps and beanies. Like many other creatives at the festival, Erin said that she hand-makes all of her work and designs.
Several other business owners had grown up attending Pumpkin Fest as well and were now experiencing it from the perspective of a vendor.
“I’ve known about Pumpkin Fest since I was a kid. I used to come here. I grew up in the Peterborough area, and then I started this business and found out they were accepting vendors. It made a lot of sense to do it. We’re down in Foxborough, Massachusetts, so it’s not too far to visit for the day,” said Andrew Morgan, the owner of The Humble Dragon. His booth featured hand-made dice, and as he described, “Other fantasy and whimsical inspired creations.”
Morgan shared that while taking part in the festival as a vendor is different, he felt nostalgic. He said, “Seeing so many families and kids, experiencing the day, it really does bring me back.”
When asked how the festival was going so far, Morgan said, “Lots of people have been coming up, showing interest in my work, you know, and I do everything by hand. Just having so many people come up and support artists and creators is wonderful.”
Cara Down of Inner Daisy Candles had a similar experience. “I’m right here in Keene. I’ve been coming to Pumpkin Fest since its very beginning, but it’s still always fun,” she said. She continued, “I’ve been really enjoying it, and everybody’s having a great time.”
It wasn’t just self-owned local businesses that made an appearance. The Hinsdale Fire Department, Monadnock Peer Support and over ten other nonprofits also showed up to help out.
Angie Frazer, board chair of the Surry Village Charter School, said that this is the school’s first time back at the festival in a few years. “It’s going really well. We haven’t done it since before the riots, so we used to have a tent here and it was our biggest fundraiser. We weren’t able to do it for so long, and now we’re just really excited to be back and get it going again,” she said.
The Community Kitchen, located in the central part of Keene, serves hot meals and food pantry boxes to anyone who needs extra food. Administrative Director Peggy Higgins said that they’ve done Pumpkin Fest many times, and they always enjoy it.
“What we do, anyone who’s interested, we want to explain what that is. We don’t get state or federal funding, so fundraising like this helps us continue to provide assistance to people,” Higgins said, in response to being asked what they were hoping to achieve by having a booth at Pumpkin Fest.
Meagen Kerris, a board member of The Community Kitchen, expressed that they were always looking for volunteers and donations, and that the organization’s wishlist for the holidays had recently been released.
Local non-profit agricultural education center Stonewall Farm was in charge of the “Kid Zone”, offering pumpkin bowling (pivoted more towards younger audiences, but of course, everybody was welcome to have a turn), and information on their programming.
Executive Director Gina De Santis said this is the farm’s first appearance [at Pumpkin Fest], and that the day had been busy. Their table was offering sweatshirts, T-shirts, and stuffed animals for sale, along with various pamphlets and pictures with details on what Stonewall offers. Stonewall focuses on youth education through farm-to-school programming and has wedding rentals in its building.
In addition to the giant tower of pumpkins that seemed to take center stage, the festival also featured live music from a few bands and individuals who brought their own instruments, as well as trick-or-treating from businesses up and down Main Street. Some vendors, such as Soul Blossom Body Art and Wicked Hair Company, were offering face painting. Ultimately, families and friends from all over were welcomed into Keene and given the opportunity to have some fall-themed fun as a collective.
Samantha Menard can be contacted at
