No, not quite. There are still large parts of the beautiful castle grounds of my town that are not, one way or other, affected by what the organizers dub "The World's Largest Pumpkin Festival".
Saturday a week ago, my mum and I decided to have a walk round the park and the exhibition. We have, as good Ludwigsburgians, season's tickets and therefore do not have to pay admission to look at a few pumpkins. Also, it was a gorgeous day of blue skies, warm and sunny, just perfect for the park.
We had the most pleasant surprise before we even got to the exhibition: From afar, we could hear music. It sounded a bit like classical music, and we were quite sure it was live. We could hear a violin, but weren't quite able yet to make out where exactly it came from. Then, as we walked on, all of a sudden, at the exact same moment, both my mum and I recognized a tune, looked at each other wide-eyed, and exclaimed: "Cobario!!!"
And that's right, it were indeed Cobario playing - one of our favourite live bands. They are three young men from Austria, and we've seen and heard them for a few years now at the International Street Music Festival in Ludwigsburg. This year, they won the 1st prize, and I guess that made the organizers of the pumpkin exhibition invite them to play that weekend, too. Well, we'd had no idea, so it really was a big surprise for us.
We went and got ourselves something to eat and drink (all pumpkin-themed, of course), and sat and listened to them. If you want to have a taste of their music, you can find clips on their website: http://www.cobario.at/
When they took a break and we had finished eating, we chatted a bit, and then they moved on and so did we.
What an incredible imaginative pumpkin display. I haven't seen anything like this even in America,( which I consider to be the home of pumpkin displays. )
ReplyDeleteI shall now show my ignorance because I've never seen nor heard of a pumpkin festival. I can't conceive of a larger gathering of those particular fruits anywhere despite the US being the largest cultivator. One looks and one learns!
ReplyDeleteThose pumpkin sculptures are amazing! I love the dinosaur one especially. And it's true, I thought America was Pumpkin Land! So cool to see these pictures!
ReplyDeleteIf some local organic farms around here were to see this post I can imagine them adopting the idea of a pumpkin festival. Looks like someting a lot of people could get involved in throughout the year - growing their pumpkins and organising their displays. A great idea.
ReplyDeleteJenny, my pictures show only a fraction of the displays - there were loads more, but with so many people about, it was hard to get good shots.
ReplyDeleteGB, they even do pumpkin contests: one is about the biggest (heaviest) pumpkin, and one is for pumpkin "boats" floating across a pond (not the pond seen in the picture).
Sonia, the whole theme was dinosaurs, there were plenty more. Every year they come up with a different theme; last year, it was The Sea, and they did whole "islands" with "palm trees" made of pumpkins, dolphins, turtles, whales, and so on.
Scriptor, they have tourists coming to this festival by the busloads, from other regions of Germany as well as neighbouring countries. I wouldn't go there on a Sunday, Saturday was just about bearable for the amount of people.
Pumpkins! I love them and not a Jack-O-Lantern in sight!
ReplyDeleteKay, there were plenty of pumpkins that were made to look like animals, but indeed, none of the classic Jack O' Lantern. People do make them here, though, and they seem to increase in popularity every year.
ReplyDelete:) gotta love the pumpkins!
ReplyDeleteLorraine
Hello Lorraine, thank you for stopping by! I couldn't find your blog; where is it hidden?
ReplyDelete