The Sixth Annual Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival

HIGHWOOD, Ill. - Sept. 22, 2015 - PRLog -- HIGHWOOD, IL (OCTOBER 9-11, 2015) – The Autism Society of Illinois and the City of Highwood are proud to announce the 6th Annual Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival (http://highwoodpumpkinfest.com/) will be held October 9-11, 2015. Kicking off the Halloween season, this fan favorite event will bring communities together while working to beat the Guinness World Record of 30,581 for most jack-o’-lanterns carved and lit at the same time. The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival will shine a light on hope, possibilities and options for the 52,000 individuals impacted by Autism in Illinois (http://www.autismillinois.org/), by striving to light a pumpkin for everyone affected, while raising much needed funds and awareness for the worthy cause.

“52,000 jack-o-lanterns may be a big dream to carve out, but our true goal is to help raise awareness, acceptance and monies needed for advocacy outreach for Illinois families,” says Matt Ackerman, Executive Director of the Autism Society of Illinois.  “All money raised in Illinois stays in Illinois and we strive to exceed the already extraordinary amount of $40,000 raised last year!”

Fest goers will be thrilled to have their favorite activities back, including: all you can carve onsite pumpkins, the Great Pumpkin Maze sponsored by Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com), Trick or Treating, Kids Costume Contest, Pumpkin Parade, hay rides, pony rides, petting zoo, carnival rides, kids crafts, stages jam packed with entertainment, seasonal food and beverage vendors galore and a 5K Pumpkin Run, Walk & Kids’ Dash!

In addition, new highlights for 2015 include:

1.     “Another Pumpkin on the Wall” fundraising program for The Autism Society of Illinois, in which each section purchased represents 40 pumpkins for donor carving. Families and companies are encouraged to purchase these sections by texting “wall” to 91999 to watch them lit to music! Each brick will be labeled with signage, for easy recognition as they are lit.

2.     Attendees can “Adopt a Pumpkin” by texting “pumpkin” to 71777 to donate to The Autism Society of Illinois.

3.     Brian Larsen the winner of ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight” will be onsite setting the majestic lit pumpkin walls to music every night at 6:30, 7:30, 8:45 pm.  It will be a sight to behold! His pumped up song list includes: Chicago Blackhawks Goal Song, Peanuts Theme Song, Jump Around by House of Pain, Turn up the Lights by Kanye West, Imagine by John Lennon and Last Dance by Donna Summer.

4.     Pumpkin seed spitting and pumpkin pie eating contests!

While the schedule is evolving, below are the offerings secured thus far:

October 3-8 PRELUDE TO THE FESTIVAL

9 am-9 pm EVERYDAY! Come out and carve pumpkins in front of City Hall (17 Highwood Ave.) with the goal of filling all the walls with pumpkins with special lights for the nightly light shows during the festival (don’t worry, there will be plenty of other scaffolding walls to fill thereafter!)

Friday, October 9:

4 pm – Festival opens with rides, vendors, activities, all-you-can-carve pumpkin stations and more!

4-6 pm- Young pumpkins are encourages to dress in their Halloween best to participate in trick or treating.

6:30, 7:30 and 8:45 pm- Light shows on the wall presented by Brian Larsen of ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight”

Saturday, October 10:

9 am- 5K Pumpkin Run, Walk and Kids’ Dash to benefit Autism Society of IL

11 am- Festival opens with rides, vendors, activities, all-you-can-carve pumpkin stations and more!

11:45 am -Tito’s Vodka College Game Day Tailgate area opens

12 pm- Meet & Greet with HGTV Cousins Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri

1 pm -HGTV Magazine interactive demo – five ingredient centerpieces

2 pm –Fastest Carver Competition

3 pm – HGTV Magazine interactive demo- Fall around the house

4 pm - Meet & Greet with HGTV Cousins Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri

4 pm - Pumpkin Pie eating contest

5 pm – HGTV Magazine interactive demo- That’s a Wrap

6:30, 7:30 and 8:45 pm- Light shows on the wall presented by Brian Larsen of ABC’s “The Great Christmas Light Fight”

Sunday, October 11:

11 am- Festival opens with rides, vendors, activities, all-you-can-carve pumpkin stations and more!

11:45 am -Tito’s Vodka College Game Day Tailgate area opens

12 pm- Pumpkin Parade

1 pm- Pet Costume Contest

2 pm- Kids’ Costume Contest

3 pm Adult Costume Contest

5:30- Record Attempt Official Lighting begins!

Once again, this years’ Autism-friendly event will have a sensory quiet area located at the City Hall, 17 Highwood Ave.

In addition to these fundraising efforts, there will also be a $2/day admission.  All the proceeds from The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival will go to Autism Society of Illinois. Pumpkin Fest is made possible by generous sponsors including: Chiro One, Comcast, Gart Partners, HGTV, Home Depot, and many more!

ABOUT THE CITY OF HIGHWOOD

Highwood was founded in 1868 by William Wallace Everts, a Chicago civic leader and world-renown educator. His concept of a family-based community has endured for more than a century. The beautiful Everts Park, in the heart of downtown Highwood, has been named in the founder's honor. The Village of Highwood was incorporated in 1887. In 1904, the community officially became known as the City of Highwood. Fort Sheridan, a former army base slightly northeast of the City, has had a profound influence on Highwood's development, and it continues to do so today as part of its land, incorporated into the City, nearly doubled Highwood in size. Today, Highwood is blending the past and present with exciting new plans for its future.

ABOUT THE AUTISM SOCIETY OF ILLINOIS

The nation’s leading grassroots autism organization, the Autism Society exists to improve the lives of all affected by autism. They do this by increasing public awareness about the day-to-day issues faced by people with ASD, advocating for appropriate services for individuals across the lifespan, and providing the latest information regarding treatment, education, research and advocacy. For more information, visit http://www.autismillinois.org/