By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor
With a history dating back to 1991, spanning 30 different iterations across the decades since its inception, Pumpkinfest has become a reliable and loved part of many Northsiders’ October. And while the 31st Pumpkinfest, taking place on Oct. 11, may look similar to versions of the festival from past years, behind the scenes it represents a major change in its history.
Since its inception as Deutschtown Pumpkinfest, the annual event has been overseen by Barbara Burns, who co-founded the festival alongside Carole Annis, the latter having run a sister event called Brightwood Pumpkinfest. However, last year, Burns stepped down from her role as lead organizer for the event.
“I’ve been saying for three years I’m retiring,” Burns told The Chronicle at the time. “Now they’re finally starting to catch on.”
But rather than hand off the proverbial keys to Pumpkinfest to any one person, she’s passed them down to a group of organizations, forming a core partnership to ensure Pumpkinfest can be enjoyed for generations to come.
“What we’re trying to do is create longevity for the event,” Burns said. “It shouldn’t be dependent upon one person.”
Future Pumpkinfests will now be organized by a coalition of East Allegheny Community Council (EACC), The Northside | North Shore Chamber of Commerce, The Northside Leadership Conference, The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Allegheny Center Alliance Church (ACAC).
With help from The Buhl Foundation, the partnership has been able to hire a project manager, Point Park University graduate Ryan Dawson, to serve as project manager of getting the 31st Pumpkinfest organized and running. Dawson graduated from the university’s Sports, Arts and Entertainment Management program, and has experience organizing aspects of festivals and fairs in the past, though said he had never served as the overall manager of an event before.
He’s taking the responsibility with the utmost seriousness, saying that he was “proud” to be able to help continue Pumpkinfest.
“For the community, it’s a huge deal,” Dawson said. “It’s really important to them and it’s a big weight to make sure people are happy about it for next year.”
Burns also isn’t entirely out of the game yet. She’s helping out with organizing the 31st Pumpkinfest.
“I’m happy to help, I’m just not going to chair it anymore,” she said. “I’m going to help people understand it, build on it and then incorporate their vision too.”
One of the main ways she’s helping out is writing down all the steps she would carry out in order to organize the event. Burns said she had become so familiar with getting Pumpkinfest ready over the years that she never really wrote a list of instructions or a to-do list.
As for the other organizers, they’re all happy to help a Northside tradition continue. Erin Tobin of the Parks Conservancy, which helps out by providing volunteers for setting up the festival, called Pumpkinfest an “extremely successful and accessible event to the greater Northside.”
Scott Pipitone, chair of the Northside Chamber’s board, said helping preserve Pumpkinfest was a “strong tribute” to all the work Burns has done over the years, calling the event a “tradition” of the Northside.
“The smiles on the kids’ faces, all those things that happen on that day, are a really strong piece of what the community is,” he said.
Roshia Furnace, with Northside Leadership Conference, said everyone involved in organizing has been “patient” with one another as they learn the ins and outs of Pumpkinfest, and that he was “very excited” to be involved.
Pastor Ken Turnbull with ACAC praised the formation and work of the organizing committee.
“It’s been a wonderful testimony to our community to see the partners surround Barbara Burns to make sure this beautiful event did not stumble but instead grew stronger,” he said.
Pumpkinfest will take place from 1-5 p.m. on Oct. 11 in Allegheny Commons Park, at the corner of East Ohio Street and Cedar Avenue. In case of bad weather, the event will be held on Oct. 12 at the same time and place.
Registration begins at noon. A $5 donation per child is recommended, and adult admission is free.
Dawson said Pumpkinfest is still in need of volunteers to help out. Those interested in volunteering can do so at deutschtown.org/pumpkinfest/ or they can reach out to Dawnson at [email protected].
