Get ready to carve at Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival

The city of Highwood and Celebrate Highwood will host the ninth annual Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival Friday through Sunday, Oct. 5-7, in downtown Highwood. The event will benefit Make-A-Wish Illinois and is sponsored by HGTV and HGTV Magazine.

Festival hours are 4-10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

The last two festivals have raised $120,000, with all proceeds directly donated to grant wishes for children with critical illnesses in Illinois. Pumpkin Fest 2018 hopes to double that donation, and will again attempt to break the Guinness World Record of 30,851 for the most pumpkins carved and lit at once.

Because every single pumpkin counts toward the grand total to break the record, festival organizers are inviting the community to bring their own pumpkins for free entry to the festival, and come out early to help carve and fill the walls for the Prelude to Pumpkin Fest from 3:30-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, at city hall, 17 Highwood Ave., Highwood.

Celebrate Highwood will host a Community Appreciation Night from 5-10 p.m. Oct. 4, which features free admission, carnival rides, live music, a full bar and more.

All lit jack-o'-lanterns will be placed on pumpkin walls throughout the festival grounds, with ceremonial wall lightings Friday and Saturday nights, and the grand lighting on Sunday evening.

Admission is $3 per day, per person or $5 for the weekend, which includes all-you-can-carve pumpkins.

The official weekend will feature a full schedule of fun Friday through Sunday with four stages of live music, food court, three bars, costume and pie eating contests, carnival rides, pony and camel rides, a petting zoo, kids crafts, vendors, and more, including the third annual Superhero 5K Run/Walk honoring “Superman Sam” Sommer, a Highwood resident and Make-A-Wish child that lost his battle with cancer in 2013.

“Every year The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival event organizers and volunteers come together to create a weekend for families that they will talk about for years to come,” said Eric Falberg, Highwood alderman and president of Celebrate Highwood. “It's truly an event for all ages.”

For information, visit www.HighwoodPumpkinFest.com.

For a complete list of musical performances,

visit www.highwoodpumpkinfest.com/music-schedule.