You should never assume the size of a festival by the size of the town. Visits to festivals in Waynesville and Circleville helped put aside that type of thinking.
But when I arrived in Barnesville…
…for their annual Pumpkin Festival…
…I initially thought that the small=small thinking might actually apply.
Sure, there were plenty of food trucks…
…flag and T-shirt vendors…
…games, rides…
…and a central pumpkin display…
…but the closed-off festival area was medium-sized at best.
Then I realized…
…when I got to the front King Pumpkins display…
…that even more booths were lined down the cross street…
…or hidden behind downtown buildings…
…where there was even a stage.
And, if you kept digging around the downtown…
…you could find a flea market…
…a craft area (upstairs)…
…quilt shows and train rides…
…or, just down this road…
…a magical Ohio Cattlemen BBQ…
…where I found myself some lunch.
But my rewarding discoveries only continued…
…especially where pumpkins were concerned.
As I walked all over the festival grounds…
…I saw pumpkin rides…
…pumpkin glass (Jack Pine)…
…many pumpkin-theme storefront displays…
…and a juried pumpkin art section…
…where displays represented Charlotte’s Web…
…Pac Man…
…and some adorable mummies and turkeys.
And, of course, there was a fair share of pumpkin food…
…via donuts…
…fudge…
…bread…
…ice cream…
…and seeds.
Being that it all looked so good…
…I stopped here before leaving…
…and got myself a pumpkin snack for the road.
We have great memories of the pumpkin festival in your wonderful town. We lived in East Springfield, Ohio at the time…..we now live in Seattle WA and I’m sorry to say folks here just don’t understand the country feel of a “Fall Harvest Festival”. Keep up the great tradition!
It’s all that and more. You must not have gotten to the Depot, the Watt Center used book sale, the pumpkin 5 K run / walk or the huge car show on Sunday afternoon!