PHOTOS BY CATHERINE STOLZ
Similar to Christmas light displays that illuminate the winter season, Pumpkin Nights is lighting up October with a scare-free experience. New to the Twin Cities this year, kids and adults are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes and walk the half-mile of completely hand-carved pumpkins.
With more than 3,000 pumpkins in 12 themed displays, Pumpkin Nights is a great alternative to the classic pumpkin patches and apple orchards. The half-mile walk abounds with pumpkins carved into ghoulish scenes, shapes, and animals by artists who spent weeks on their creations. The Eiffel Tower alone took four artists two weeks to complete, and a special 3D artist was brought in to carve the garden scenes, including caterpillars, angler fish, and even a man-eating plant.
Each “world,” or themed display hosts larger than life creations, including the International Bazaar, featuring famous global monuments; the Great Garden, complete with plants, gnomes, and garden fairies; Picture Minnesota, a world dedicated to iconic local images; Dia De Los Muertos, with over a hundred uniquely carved sugar skulls; and a spooky Pumpkin Passage, with over 300 floating pumpkins.
You can even bring your own jack-o-lantern to add to the display and Pumpkin Nights will donate $5 to Scares that Care, who helps families fight childhood illness, burns, and breast cancer.
General Admission tickets are $20 for adults, $16 for kids. Family packages go for $64. Family packs are half off on Mondays, tickets in multiples of two are half off on Tuesdays, all tickets are 25% off on Wednesdays, and on Thursdays two adult tickets can be purchased for $28. Free parking is available at the fairgrounds.
Pumpkin Nights
Sundays-Thursdays, 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays, 6:30 p.m.-midnight
1719 Como Ave., Falcon Heights
pumpkinnights.com
