Historic Hudson Valley Returns "The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze" for Twelfth Year

The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze will be bigger and better than ever before when it returns for its twelfth year to historic Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson on Sept. 30, 2016.

New attractions include “Main Street” at the Pumpkin Promenade and an 80-foot-long Pumpkin Zee Bridge.

Blaze favorites back for the new show include a color-changing star show at the Pumpkin Planetarium which made it debut last year but has doubled in size this year, Undersea Aquarium, eight-foot-tall working jack-o’lanterns-in-the-box, life-sized dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, and a sea serpent out for an evening swim.

More than 7,000 jack o’ lanterns, hand scooped by volunteers and carved by professionals will be lit up, assembled, and displayed in a multitude of Halloween-inspired spooky settings and scenes. (The amount of jacks carved for this year’s Blaze is up from 4,000 used only a few years ago.)

The dates offered for visiting the Blaze are Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Oct. 7-10, Oct. 13-16, Oct. 19-31, Nov. 3-6, and Nov. 10-13. The show is conducted on evenings only, rain or shine.

Creative Director Michael Natiello heads the team that creates and carves the illuminated structures. More than 1,000 volunteers help scoop and light the pumpkins.

Although scary at times, this largely strolling event is recommended for children of all ages. Hand holding is suggested for small kids as traversing the grounds often requires walking among large crowds through wooded paths and dark areas.

Adding to the fun are eerie music and sounds. Professional musician and radio personality Richard Christy created the soundtracks which are available as digital downloads and streams from iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.

Timed admission
Admission on all dates is by advance purchase of tickets for specific times. Attendees should take waiting time into consideration for parking their cars.

A souvenir shop will sell Blaze merchandise including hats, notepads, games, T-shirts, magnets, caps, mugs, and jewelry. New this year will be the Baby BLAZE clothing line for young children and the BLAZE Pets line of fun items for dogs and cats.

Café Blazé, operated by Geordane’s of Irvington, will offer snacks including soup, veggie chili, muffins, pumpkin cookies, and cider.

The sponsoring organizations for Blaze are Entergy (a founding sponsor), Westchester Medical Center, and Green Mountain Energy. The media sponsors are 100.7 WHUD/The Peak 107.1 and The Journal News Media Group.

The Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze is conducted by Historic Hudson Valley, a Tarrytown-based, not-for-profit organization formed to preserve the history, culture, character and traditions of the Hudson Valley region. Proceeds from the Blaze help to support the historic sites owned and operated by Historic Hudson Valley.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914-366-6900 (there is a $2 per ticket surcharge for phone orders and for tickets purchased onsite, if available). Online tickets costs are $20 for adults ($25 on Saturdays), $16 for children 3-17 ($20 on Saturdays), and free for children under 3 and Historic Hudson Valley members.

Van Cortlandt Manor is located at 525 South Riverside Avenue, just off Route 9 in Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, NY, www.hudsonvalley.org.

Photo: The Pumpkin Planetarium at The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. Photo by JENNIFER MITCHELL