There was no time to sip apple cider on Saturday at Kenai’s Fall Pumpkin Festival, within minutes of the pumpkin patch opening all the pumpkins had been claimed.
Superheros, animals, princesses and more filled the wildflower garden on Lawton Drive on the crisp afternoon, racing to find the perfect pumpkin canvas for their designs.
“I’m going to take stickers and put them all over my pumpkin,” said five-year-old Jasper Dormady.
His sister, three-year-old Madison, agreed, saying she may paint her pumpkin too.
“This is our first year coming here and it’s really cool. They had put the pumpkins all over the place,” said Ken Dormady, Jasper and Madison’s father. “The kids ran around and picked them all up fast. Jasper shot out there and got three real quick, but I made him turn around and put two back.”
For those who blinked and missed the pumpkin picking, the festival offered a wide array of other seasonal attractions.
The Kenai Peninsula 4H Club was on hand with friendly livestock, including a fluffy rabbits and well-behaved chickens. Guests were invited to pet most of the livestock before heading onto a hayride, which travelled throughout the neighborhood.
The festival also offered live music, face-painting, hot apple cider and live storytelling from the Kenai Community Library.
“We like it here because it’s cold,” said Owen Derzab after posing for a photograph at one of the several seasonal displays set up for the perfect fall photo. “We carved my other pumpkin so I think I’m going to paint this one.”
This is the second year the city of Kenai has hosted the free pumpkin picking and fall celebration event.
Reach Kat Sorensen at kat.sorensen@peninsulaclarion.com
Owen Derzab, Aly and Lexy Eikenberg and Evan Derzab pose for photos as characters from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” during Kenai’s pumpkin festival on Oct. 14, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)