Don't be so quick to throw out that ol' jack-o-lantern after October 31. The ninth annual Inwood Pumpkin Pageant is returning to northern Manhattan's Isham Park on Wednesday, November 1 from 5-8 pm, during which New Yorkers can show off their most creative, carved gourds the night after Halloween for one last grand community display.
A free, community-led event, volunteers will provide candles and help set the pumpkins up along the park pathways. People can admire the pumpkins from dusk until 8pm and vote on their favorite designs to win the coveted Blue Ribbon.
After the pageant, the pumpkins are collected for composting to keep them out of the waste stream. Organizers are working with the New York Restoration Project and the Department of Sanitation in their sustainability efforts. (Yes, there will be pumpkin smashing, so bring your teenagers and baseball bats!)
And if you want to get a leg up on the competition, you can join the pageant crew a few days earlier on Friday, October 27 from 1-5 pm at the New York Restoration Project Fall Fest in Sherman Creek Park, where volunteers will show you how to safely and successfully carve your own jack-o-lanterns.