Pumpkin pioneers: “Calabaza” means pumpkin in Spanish, where better to host a pumpkin festival than in Calabasas in the San Fernando Valley? The two-day festival will take place from October 16-17. It's located in the Juan Bautista de Anza Park. Free parking and shuttles for all. Tickets are $3 in advance or $5 at the gate. Kiddies under two years old get in free.
Smashing pumpkins: Pumpkin bowling, pumpkin seed spitting, pumpkin painting, professional pumpkin carving and pumpkin pie eating contest that you can wash down with a nice cold beer—pumpkin flavored! Whew! That’s a lot of punkin’. Aside from the famously orange fruit to keep you entertained, there will be a car show, arts and crafts, face painting, a reptiles and nature show and a lot of funky bands. After leaving the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival, you might have pumpkin on your mind and perhaps a bit in your hair, but it's well worth the smashing good time.
Did you know: Pumpkins were once used as a tool for removing freckles and curing snakebites. The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds. Pumpkins are 90 percent water. And pumpkins are actually a fruit. Now you have some neat Halloween party convo starters. Your welcome!