DEUTSCHTOWN — Northside Pumpkinfest — the annual children’s festival that has served as a staple of autumn on the Northside — will not be held this year for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doug Kamper, vice president of the East Allegheny Community Council (EACC), told The Chronicle that the council was facing issues getting Pumpkinfest organized without founder Barbara Burns, and made the decision to hold off on the event for a year.
“It sucks, we wish we could have done it this year,” Kamper said. “But we didn’t want to do it wrong or poorly.”
The 2026 Pumpkinfest, before its cancellation, would have been the first one since the passing of Burns, who co-founded the event in 1991. Burns died on Nov. 5, 2025 following a battle with illness at the age of 76, only a few days after the 31st Northside Pumpkinfest.
Check out the October 2026 issue of The Northside Chronicle for the full story.
