What a sight to behold! Dozens of Atlantic Giant Pumpkins loaded onto volunteered flatbed trucks –using forklifts lent by Hammond Lumber and Hammond Tractor – rumbling down Main Street!  These “Bad Boys” are real traffic stoppers, on Thursday before Columbus Day weekend, as they are delivered-in-place for Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta™ .

Sponsor: King Eider’s Pub

Watch in amazement as the forklifts gently raise each pumpkin (secured on a pallet) off the truck and lower it into place on the sidewalk in front of Damariscotta Pumpkinfest’s™ generous sponsors’ businesses. Make plans now to stroll downtown on Thursday evening before Columbus Day weekend after 3:45 p.m. to witness the thrill of Pumpkin Deployment.

Get your last minute shopping done at local retailers & enjoy Damariscotta Pumpkinfest™ specialties offered at local restaurants. Walk Main Street after dinner for one last look at the parade of pumpkins quietly waiting for their artist to arrive on Friday morning to transform them into the whimsical beauty that is their destiny.

Each year, local Maine artists more than meet the challenge of decorating sixty to seventy Atlantic Giant Pumpkins which are displayed in downtown Damariscotta & Newcastle during Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta™. The results are extraordinary and bring thousands of viewers from New England and beyond. Energetic and creative Maine artists are again sought this year to transform the new crop of giant pumpkins into whimsical, fabulous works of art.

The giant fruits are delivered on pallets, and are available for carving, painting and decorating on Friday of Columbus Day weekend. The size of the pumpkins, subject to the vagaries of Mother Nature, range anywhere from “Jack-O-Lantern” (about 200 pounds), to “Great Pumpkin” (about 400 pounds), up to “Maxima” (600-1,200 pounds). They stand about four feet tall, if September has favorable growing conditions.

Please join the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta™ “Squashbucklers Team” and make the Giant Pumpkins come alive. To sign up or if you have questions, contact artists@damariscottapumpkinfest.com

In the green-spirit of recycling, the decorated pumpkins are gathered in late-October for use as pig feed at a local farm!