Come October, can you not get enough of all things pumpkin? Do you constantly crave a pumpkin spice latte? And pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bagels and, who are we kidding, pumpkin everything?
Your tastebuds are covered all fall long, but the flavor is not the only reason to love pumpkins! A pumpkin is a blank canvas that you can turn into an autumn work of art – and you can find inspiration from the most amazing pumpkin displays in America!
Photo by David Smith / Flickr
New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival
The New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival (formerly known as the Keene Pumpkin Festival) takes place in Laconia, NH on October 18-19. Featuring a giant pumpkin tower as its centerpiece, in 2013, the festival set the Guinness World Record for most lit jack-o’-lanterns displayed. And this year, you can even take the Pumpkin Express train for a ride!
How to get there: Laconia is an easy two hour bus ride from Boston, and you can Wanderu from lots of other places too!
Jack-O'-Lantern Spectacular
In October, the biggest attraction at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI is not the animals, but the collection of thousands of glowing jack-o’-lanterns! At the Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular, there are themes every year, with one being ‘American Treasures’ a couple of years back, so you will find pumpkins carved with intricate images that fit under the theme of the year!
How to get there: Book a ticket from Boston or New York, and anywhere on the East Coast and beyond!
Autumn at the Arboretum
Everything’s bigger in Texas, and that’s certainly true when it comes to pumpkin displays! In Dallas, Autumn at the Arboretum features a Pumpkin Village made of over 90,000 pumpkins, gourds, and squash. And these aren’t just your ordinary looking jack-o’-lanterns – from the fairytale pumpkin to the monster gourd, you are sure to see types of squash you’ve never seen before.
How to get there: Wanderu can take you to Dallas from Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, and if you really love pumpkins, you can make the trip from many more places!
Paul Narvaez / Flickr
Rise of the Jack-O'-Lanterns
A 1/3 mile display with over 5,000 pumpkins, including a 50-foot long dragon, draws people to Rise of the Jack-O’-Lanterns in Los Angeles, Boston, Long Island and New Jersey. You can even find an “auto show” with classic cars made out of pumpkins! The Rise also has a live pumpkin carving station, so you can see pumpkin artists in action and get inspired to plan your own masterpiece.
How to get there: Whether you want to visit the pumpkins in Los Angeles, Boston, Long Island, or New Jersey, you can book your tickets on Wanderu!
