Pumpkin Fest Spooks Up A Good Time In Central Park

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe joined thousands of New Yorkers the annual Pumpkin Festival in Central Park on Saturday. The Pumpkin Festival offers a spin on the autumn season and offers New Yorkers a myriad of spooky and fun activities ranging from a citywide Scarecrow Design Competition to a green market to a pumpkin patch and a haunted house.

"The Parks Department is proud to partner with The Hub, a new family television channel, to bring New Yorkers another way to enjoy the fall with free Halloween favorites like the Circus Berzerkus Haunted House, designed by Parks' recreation staff, a pumpkin patch, harvest time delights from the Greenmarket vendors, and the Scarecrow design contest," said Parks Commissioner Benepe. "The Pumpkin Festival is a great place to enjoy fall foliage, see creative costumes, and have a howling good time!"

In the spirit of the fall and Halloween, this year's Pumpkin Festival offered numerous fall fun activities including the haunted house, the scarecrow contest, hay rides, Megamind Trivia, face painting, a pumpkin patch with 10,000 pumpkins, and an arts and crafts station. Kids met TV character Strawberry Shortcake and took photos with Transformers' Optimus Prime. Visitors were entertained by live performances by the Laughing Pizza, the Big Apple Circus, and the Kidrockers and many more.

The FREE Circus Berzerkus Haunted House made its debut on Friday and was designed by recreation staff from each borough. Attendees checked out the Bronx's Voodoo Lounge and found out how spooky their Halloween would be in Manhattan's Fortune Teller room. New Yorkers of all ages marched with the clowns in Queens' clown room and viewed Brooklyn's Freak Show! It was a scream in Staten Island's Fun Room.

The third annual citywide Scarecrow Design Competition was held at Bethesda Fountain with participants from recreation centers, schools and youth programs from throughout the boroughs. More than 50 scarecrows constructed by groups of all ages were on display. And all the winning scarecrows will be put on exhibit in the Arsenal Gallery, the only municipally-run gallery in New York City.

This event was presented by Parks and The Hub TV Network and sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts, Time Warner Cable, The New York Post, the New York Rangers, Cabot Cheese, NYC Department of Environment Protection, Radio 103.5 KTU, Madame Tussauds, Megamind, and Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium.