Over a week has passed since the Great Pumpkin Festival 2012 and we’ve just about recovered.  I’ve gotten the cobwebs out of my hair and the hay is picked up off the floor.  Chef Dave’s fingers are back to their normal color.  (Who knew peeling and chopping that many pumpkins could tint your hands orange?)  And Will? Well, I hear he’s no longer talking about pumpkins in his sleep.

A huge thank you to everyone who came out to share in the pumpkin-y goodness that is the Great Pumpkin Festival!  It was a long wait for many, but I’ve been told that people were able to make the best of it and it was all worth it in the end. I mean these guys look pretty happy, right?

Last week’s Great Pumpkin Fest was the biggest and best to date.  In fact, I’ve gathered some numbers together to show you what really goes into making the Great Pumpkin Festival “great.”

21,581 beer and grill tickets
12 hours
150 hand carved jack-o-lanterns
49 beers
350 yards of caution tape
14 jockey boxes
1 binder of women
600 bratwurst sausages
3 gallons of mustard
2 Where’s Waldos
60 kegs
1 300 pound pumpkin
50 pounds of dry ice
0 snow (!)
354 days till the next one

~Laura

(all photos courtesy Michael Johnson of FestPics)