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Welcome to the home of Spalding’s Annual Pumpkin Festival

The Spalding Pumpkin Festival, which falls on the first week of October, is a celebration of local ‘Horticulture and Harvest’. At this time of year many harvest festivals are taking place within schools and churches across the district. In 2000 Bruce Wakeling (Town Centre Manager for South Holland District Council) contacted Europe’s biggest pumpkin grower David Bowman, to create an event for the community centred around these celebrations.

The initial ‘Pumpkin Parade’ was born.

The week long Festival of events and activities that we know today grew from this small “Parade” and local entertainment. The next few years would see this parade make changes to its route but not its cause, receiving a “National Market Town” award in 2004. Growing in popularity, expectation and over all satisfaction, 2009 saw the first transition from a single day event into a week long festival; bringing with it several new additions such as the Pumpkin Throwing Competition.

The festival prides its self on being a family affair, bringing the community together with attractions catering for all ages, styles and tastes. 2011 prepares for another great event set to include, live music, fancy dress, children’s rides, competitions, open markets, street entertainment, a fantastic fireworks display and of course the pumpkin lit parade which continues to meander through the streets of Spalding, under the warm glow of decorated lanterns, led by this years Flower Queen upon the brand new pumpkin coach.

Be sure to join us on October 7th for the 2011 Celebrations

To learn more about Europe 's Biggest Pumpkin Producer and the festivals main sponsor, please visit www.david-bowman.co.uk

The 2011 festival begins on Friday 7th October with events and activities throughout the day, culminating in the evening with a Spectacular Firework Display in Spalding Town Centre... We hope you will be able to come and enjoy the fun. Come in fancy dress (many do) or come as you are, all are welcome.

On this site, you will find information about this years festival, competitions, galleries and the history behind it all. There’s also some fun links with alternatives for your pumpkin this year; delicious treats to extreme carving, there’s something for everyone !

The Spalding Pumpkin Festival Team

Sponsored by:

In 2009 David Bowman freely distributed nearly 2,500 pumpkins to the local community. Both David and his wife Janet attend a variety of meetings, assisting the festival in every way they can. Being involved from the beginning makes the Bowman’s a great asset to the team who also attract a lot of regional, national and even international media keeping Spalding very much, and rightly on the map!

For the overall continuation and maintaining the high quality of the festival, Nationwide Plc generously support with kind donations.

In Partnership with

Providing an army of stewards, the pumpkin coach and a wealth of expertise is far from all the Welland Centenary Rotary Club contributes. A lot of time and effort is given attending meetings, managing personnel, programming competitions and even organising events. Many of these factors are not witnessed by the supporting public, but create the backbone of the safe running of the festival; especially for the final Friday event.

Even though the Spalding Lions are relatively new partners to the festival, they have become a part of the team very quickly, not only attending the variety of meetings, but also taking on responsibilities with competitions (including the greatly supported Fancy Dress; Friday event), stewarding and even assisting with a clean up crew

Organised By:

Constantly striving to surpass expectations each year brings. Working with the community to create a successful community event is the biggest reward. From event programming to street cleaning, South Holland District Council’s event team look forward to this festival and working with such dedicated groups to make it happen year after year!
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Sponsored by:
	In 2009 David Bowman freely distributed nearly 2,500 pumpkins to the local community. Both David and his wife Janet attend a variety of meetings, assisting the festival in every way they can. Being involved from the beginning makes the Bowman’s a great asset to the team who also attract a lot of regional, national and even international media keeping Spalding very much, and rightly on the map!
	For the overall continuation and maintaining the high quality of the festival, Nationwide Plc generously support with kind donations.
In Partnership with
	Providing an army of stewards, the pumpkin coach and a wealth of expertise is far from all the Welland Centenary Rotary Club contributes. A lot of time and effort is given attending meetings, managing personnel, programming competitions and even organising events. Many of these factors are not witnessed by the supporting public, but create the backbone of the safe running of the festival; especially for the final Friday event.
	Even though the Spalding Lions are relatively new partners to the festival, they have become a part of the team very quickly, not only attending the variety of meetings, but also taking on responsibilities with competitions (including the greatly supported Fancy Dress; Friday event), stewarding and even assisting with a clean up crew
Organised By:
	Constantly striving to surpass expectations each year brings. Working with the community to create a successful community event is the biggest reward. From event programming to street cleaning, South Holland District Council’s event team look forward to this festival and working with such dedicated groups to make it happen year after year!