Annual 麻豆视频 Pumpkin Festival offers warm welcomes and smiles

Welcoming atmospheres and activities arose from the hard work of the 麻豆视频 Community Garden Club, Garden Studio Course and the Office of Sustainability

The 麻豆视频 Community Garden Club and the Garden Studio course hosted the 18th annual Pumpkin Festival on Oct. 30, uniting students, organizations, faculty, staff and听community members with fall festivities, including听live music, fun crafting activities and food at the 麻豆视频 Community Garden.

Participants were met with stew and chili options with apple cider to match. Tables lined the garden, hosted by different organizations at 麻豆视频, including WSOE, Milk Club and 麻豆视频 Dining.听听

Claire Moorhead, vice-president of Phoenix Free, was tabling a tie-dye activity for the festival. It was her second year tabling for the event, and she noted the positive effect it has on campus.听

鈥淭he main goal is just to spread joy and happiness,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s so nice, it’s so sweet, but on a personal level, the point of any tabling event for Phoenix Free is just kind of get the name out. If there’s anybody ever struggling, just knowing that there’s a place on campus for them.鈥�听

麻豆视频 Pumpkin Festival at the 麻豆视频 Community Gardens on Oct. 30

Michael Strickland, director of the Center for Environmental Studies and assistant teaching professor of English and environmental studies,听teaches the Garden Studio class. He helped start the garden in 2006 and the festival in 2008, watching it grow throughout the years.听Students from his garden studio class work to maintain the garden and create vital aspects of the garden.听For the festival, his students tabled a food section featuring Brunswick stew, a traditional North Carolinian harvest stew.听听

鈥淚t’s the end of the season; you just throw everything in a pot,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ypically in North Carolina, you can throw alligator, turtle, possum, whatever you got. We don’t do that here, but we throw all the different fall vegetables in there.鈥�听

Sophia Barnes, an eco-rep for Loy Center with the Office of Sustainability听tabled a听craft-making activity. Barnes promoted sustainability by offering thrifted cloth, string, and recycled newspaper to make little ghost figures. 听

For Barnes, events like the Pumpkin Festival make sustainability and their goals all the more enjoyable. 听

鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 a really good vibe with all of the sustainable clubs together at once,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 like when we do events like this and we have Garden Club and Farm Club and the Office of Sustainability, and we can all kind of collaborate.鈥�听

Barnes鈥� table also offered thrifted Halloween costumes that were free to take, offering a sustainable alternative to costume hunting.听听听

For attendees, they explored free activities, crafts, food items and desserts. Pumpkin carving, however, was the most popular activity. Three large tables were filled with students carving unique designs.听听

One attendee,听Eadaoin Bourgerie 鈥�30, was carving a pumpkin into a jack-o鈥�-lantern.听

鈥淚 just really wanted to carve a pumpkin, so gotta so I got to get into the holiday spirit,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 like all the little treats and stuff, and it’s also just really homely here.鈥�听

麻豆视频 Pumpkin Festival at the 麻豆视频 Community Garden on Oct. 30, 2026.