The Haunted Pumpkin Garden

Posted in Programs and Events on September 18 2013, by Matt Newman

When monster masks, vampire make-up, and shuffling the kids around the neighborhood with candy-laden pillow cases won’t cut it anymore, it’s time to step up your Halloween game! And this weekend, starting September 21, The New York Botanical Garden does exactly that. We’re launching into one of our favorite holidays a little early this year with a Haunted Pumpkin Garden full of creepy, crawly events and activities, and there’ll be no shortage of spiders, bats, snakes and jack-o’-lanterns here to make your twilight adventures frightfully memorable.

No, seriously—we’ll be showcasing actual bugs and bats. Why would we miss an opportunity like that?!

Check out the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden this Saturday for the return of intricately carved pumpkin sculptures, parades, and more. Your little ones will have free reign to play in our “gourd-geous” Pumpkin House (no pun apologies here) and put on a show in our Pumpkin Puppet Theater. Or, if they’re especially daring, they can join some of our Discovery Center staff on the hunt for wriggling earthworms under rotting logs. And on Saturday and Sunday at 12 and 2 p.m., we’ll be joining our friends from The Nature of Things at the Clay Family Picnic Pavilions for live animal presentations featuring the “stuff of nightmares,” creatures that really aren’t so terrifying if you give them a chance—in fact, these lizards, tarantulas, and sneaky snakes can be downright cute.

As we slink deeper into the season of changing leaves and crisp fall weather, we’ll be going all out with special weekend events that you won’t want to miss. The weekend of October 12 – 14 brings bats to the garden with our “Gone Batty!” series, offering an up-close look at the winged nocturnal creatures that inspired so many vampire stories. And on October 18, 19, 25, and 26, our Spooky Nighttime Adventures are set to capture the mischievous spirit of the holiday with an after dark exploration of the Whole Foods Market® Trick-or-Treat Trail, where kids can dig for decomposers, decorate gourds, and grab a flashlight for some evening gallivanting in the Garden.

You’ll want to mark your calendars for the Giant Pumpkin Weekend of October 19 and 20, too, as it’s the only time this year that you’ll get to see Master Pumpkin Carver Ray Villafane and his team of artists sculpt some of the world’s biggest, heaviest pumpkins into fantastical frights and unearthly creatures. We’re not going to give away this year’s design just yet, but if the past few years are any precedent, you’re in for the most artfully executed cadre of pumpkin-based horrors you’ll see anywhere.

We’ll have more for you in the coming weeks, and you’ll find all of our Halloween program listings and schedules over here. In the meantime, join us for some quality spookery out and about in our 250 acres!