What to do at Pumpkinfest in Port Elgin? On a cool October weekend, we headed to a cottage in Port Elgin to find out.
About Port Elgin
Port Elgin is on the waterfront of Lake Huron. It’s a lovely small town with a charming main street dotted with restaurants, single-proprietor shops, live music bars and the occasional festival.
What is Pumpkinfest?
The Pumpkinfest Fall Festival takes over the main street with vintage cars and old pick up trucks and even a Volkswagen bus.
In parking lots and sidewalks here’s what to do at Pumpkinfest – you’ll find rummage sales, crafts, farm products, and retail booths. In the stores that line the street, there are often extra sales tables to entice the visitor.
If you want a pie from the bakery, get there early or reserve ahead!
Giant Pumpkins!
The big draw for the crowds is the International Weigh-Off for pumpkins and other giant squash. The stadium seats in a large tent are filled with people from the area and from far away. It’s fun to stand on the fenced sidelines and watch the kids run around, too.
Most remarkable, though, is how large these vegetables grow! It takes a heavy-duty crane to lift them onto the weighing platform. The giant pumpkin is set up on a pallet, ready to be mounted on the sling of a crane contraption, just to be weighed for the competition. Watching the process is almost more fun than the astonishing weights
Pumpkin Carving
You may see demonstrations nearby of gigantic pumpkin carving, if you stick around. They have to put the pumpkins on picnic tables because they are so large.
You can also carve a normal sized pumpkin. And the mess stays at the festival grounds!
What We Did at Pumpkinfest
We had a great time at the Weigh-In tent making bets among ourselves over the top pumpkin weight, checking out the cars, shopping for new shoes and chatting with the farmers as we sampled their produce. When the weather turned icy, we took off back to the cottage to open up our sausage and bread and tuck in for some delightful snacking.
This is a great festival for the whole family to enjoy.
Port Elgin, ON
