Although it just turned October, Halloween will be upon us before you know it. If you’re like me and still carve pumpkins every year in order to keep yourself from trick-or-treating into a coma and stealing candy from all the real kids, you’re in for a treat.

The Arboretum will host its third annual Pumpkin festival from October 13-19. All the activities are free, and you might even get something out of the deal. The first 100 people who register for the pumpkin carving competition get a free cone from the Creamery. Registration for the contest is October 17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until October 18. There’s even a category just for Penn State students. More than 700 pumpkins will be available to use in the competition for free.

For those of you that don’t like to carve pumpkins on an empty stomach, light refreshments will be served on October 19 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For some fun pumpkin carving ideas look online and print out some templates! Happy carving!

About the Author

Catie Simpson

Catie is a junior majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. She's also the resident townie and culinary enthusiast due to a brief stint at the CIA (the culinary school not the secret government agency). She currently works at a Baby Temperament Lab on campus where she tries to get babies to do dangerous things. She's also on the twitter.