It wasn’t for a lack of effort that the organizers of the 13th-annual Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival were unable to set the world record for spontaneously lit jack-o’-lanterns over the weekend.
Celebrate Highwood shipped in more than 20,000 pumpkins, and hoped a well-publicized B.Y.O.P. (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) campaign to set the stage for topping the 30,581-pumpkin record.
But the BYOP effort fell short, and warm temperatures last week turned thousands of carved orbs into mush, leaving 16,000 pumpkins available for the jack-o’-lantern lighting.
Organizers said they were nevertheless thrilled by the effort, the community’s response and the festival itself.
An estimated 100,000 people attended the three-day event for the music, food and displays. And despite falling short of the world record, four downtown parks and sections of Sheridan Road were glowing from the light of the 16,000 pumpkins on Sunday night.
At Everts Park, “The Great Wall,” a nearly half-block line of scaffolding, eight rows high and stacked with carved pumpkins, created an impressive sight.
“We encouraged donations, having the participation,” Celebrate Highwood’s promotions director Illyse Strongin said. “It’s all about community.
“We’d have people carve them at home and bring them for display,” Strongin continued. “Grow their own. Purchase them at stores or from farms. Schools would carve them. People would donate pickup trucks filled with pumpkins and drop them off.”
The world record for jack-o’-lanterns all lit at the same time was set in Keene, New Hampshire in 2013. Community support helped push the New England town to the record of 30,581. It no longer holds its festival, opening the door for a place like Highwood to beat the mark.
While the Guinness Book of World Records was not engaged for the attempt, because of the depleted stock of pumpkins, there was still one big question left to answer — how to light thousands of pumpkins at the same time.
“Lots of volunteers … lots,” volunteer Tom Babbington explained. “They’re all lit with votive candles, but we used some battery-powered lighting since they last longer.”
The volunteers included festival workers, families and anyone who wanted to help illuminate the orbs. Everything was focused on the big Sunday night lighting.
“This is community,” Strongin said. “People were just coming up and asking to help. All these candles, when lit, are mesmerizing, awe-inspiring and so moving … not only for the kids, but the parents. Everybody looks forward to this event each year.”
Also featured were the “Skeletons on Display,” including rock n’ roll themed musical groups with a Halloween twist, which will be on display all month at Painter’s Park on Sheridan Road.
“This year’s artists enthusiastically took the rock n’ roll theme and ran with it, creating some amazing displays for the public to enjoy,” said James Lynch, the center’s executive director.
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Everts Park was also home to “Pumpkin Town U.S.A.,” a first-time installation depicting an entire village with a city hall, general store, library, and movie theater.
“You could sit in a chair next to a skeleton, and wander around this pumpkin village,” said Jennifer Ashley, who attended the festival with friends. “They renovated Everts Park last year, so this was a great space.”
This year’s event was a welcome return, as Strongin said Celebrate Highwood officials made no attempts at the jack-o’-lantern record over the past few years. Instead, they worked on fundraising efforts for different nonprofit groups.
Last year, they provided funds for the Highland Park Community Foundation in the wake of the July 4 mass parade shooting.
“The festival grounds were scattered throughout Highwood at the City Hall, Everts Park, Painters Park and the Highwood Metra parking lot,” Strongin said. “There are so many people to thank, and we gave (the world record) a good shot. There’s always next year.”
