Milford Pumpkin Festival To Put Its Stamp On Spooky Fun This Year

MILFORD, NH — Two years ago the annual Milford Pumpkin Festival was in danger of coming to an end. The community-based group that had run the festival for nearly three decades was changing its focus and there was some doubt who would step into the void and continue the Columbus Day coming together of goblins, ghouls and many, many, many gourds.

"We weren't going to have a pumpkin festival," said Zoe Lantaff, a volunteer with the Granite Town Festivities Committee that now runs the event. "So a group stepped up to make sure it would continue to happen. A lot of people look forward to it every year. It's a great tradition in Milford."

It's a tradition designed to highlight local artists, celebrate the town's small businesses and provide three days of fun for residents and visitors. This year, it will include a national unveiling as well as the United States Post Office will help kick off the event with a 5 p.m. ceremony next Friday to officially introduce its Spooky Silhouettes forever stamps.

The event will take place in Emerson Park next to the Milford Post Office and will show off the stamps that include digital illustrations of Halloween motifs as backlit black silhouettes. The images include a cat with an arched back beneath a raven perched on a bare tree branch, two ghosts against an orange background, a spider and a web against a red background and three bats against a purple background.

Artist Tyler Lang worked with art director and designer Greg Breeding to create the stamps, which will be available for purchase on Oct. 11.

This year’s festival will include some mainstays and new touches. The music has been expanded from two to three stages.

"That’s my favorite part," said Lantaff, who was in charge of selecting the bands that include the Murphy Clark Band, Slate Face, the Ballou Brothers and the Slakas among the lineup of 28 acts. "That is why I came on the committee. Food and music are my things."

There will be a beer, wine and spirits festival presented by the Milford Lions Club and Milford Rotary Club on Friday and Saturday on the Community House Lawn from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Great Pumpkin Weigh-In will be at noon on Saturday in The Oval. The Pumpkin Lighting is Friday at 6:30 at Town Hall.

The Pumpkin Festival Talent Show will be Saturday night at 7 at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts. The Carved Pumpkin Community Lighting will be Saturday night at 7 at the bandstand at The Oval. Haunted trail walks will take place in Emerson Park after sundown on Friday and Saturday.

The Milford DI Pumpkin Fest Color Run is Sunday at Keyes Memorial Park. There will be a Pumpkin Catapult at the TD Bank parking lot near The Oval. The Flying Gravity Circus will perform Saturday afternoon on Union Street near Pasta Loft.

Local historian David Palance will also hold informative Tombstone Talks in the Elm Street Cemetery on Saturday afternoon. Milford High students will continue their tradition of painting the windows in the festival area over the next week.

The arts and crafts exhibit in Town Hall has been expanded to include the banquet room as well as the auditorium due to overwhelming demand from vendors.

"We're full," Lantaff said. "There is a lot of fun stuff to go and do."

Those attending the festival are asked to park at the middle and high schools with free buses available to take them to the key festival sites.