'Pumpkins After Dark' set to welcome the fall season and visitors to Halloween extravaganza

It's billed as 'Canada’s Largest Halloween Festival' and it's taken weeks to set up over 10,000 carved pumpkins that transform  WinSport into a spooky spectacle.

Pumpkins After Dark is in its fourth year and the sculptures change annually. This fall there are 40 different scenes ranging from Ghostbusters to Egyptian mummies.

"When Pumpkins After Dark first started in 2019, people didn't really understand it or know what to expect," said event promoter Sean Libin. "But year after year, people come down, they experience what Pumpkins After Dark is, get immersed in it and word spreads around so I think now people have a better understanding of what to expect when they come (to the fall event)."

Libin said the event that started in Calgary is now in five Canadian cities and this year is expanding to Houston, Texas.

"It has gotten bigger and tighter with more sophisticated displays," he said. "New scenes are carved out every year and it takes 40 to 50 different artists a whole year to carve the pumpkins that are necessary to produce this this month long show."

Pumpkins After Dark uses some 6,000 pumpkins to create dozens of displays. (Pumpkins After Dark)

Family friendly fun

The show is designed to be family-friendly with a carnival-like setting to begin with and then a self guided pathway tour.

"It takes about an hour and a half to make your way through the various scenes that we have in the pathway," said Libin. "It's an opportunity for everyone to come together and for young people who have never seen anything this cool, maybe they've seen one jack-o-lantern at grandma's house, but these are really great carved pumpkins."

Charlie Bruneau, who is 13 years old, has been here before and enjoys the effort it took to produce the show.

"It's just like seeing all the pumpkins and seeing how much work people put into it for a Halloween event, it's just kind of nice," he said.

William Orgill appreciates the skill of the artists who create the themed pumpkins.

"The pumpkin carving, like it has a pumpkin carving tradition with Halloween," he said. "And, you know (it's at) the next level for the entertainment of other people, it kind of increases Halloween spirit all around."

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Libin says the event has become a Halloween tradition for many families.

"I don't know about everyone else, but when I was a kid, Halloween was like the second most important day of the year," he said. "Maybe Christmas is number one, getting out of school was number three on the list so it's an exciting time for kids, exciting time for families, and it's a changing of the seasons when you see all the pumpkins come out."

Learn more about the event here.