The 15th Annual Festival of Pumpkins will be held in downtown Paris this Saturday, October 24th from 9am-6pm.
According to Paris Main Street Coordinator Cheri Bedford, “we are preparing for the Festival of Pumpkins as planned. The City Staff is committed to making the best of this situation for the downtown, community and sponsors. We understand weather may be an issue, but we are NOT cancelling.”
Bedford continues, “A weather team consisting of the City Manager, Police Chief, Director of EMS/Information Technology, Fire Chief, and FOP Event Staff will assess the situation for the severity and safety of the participants in partnership with the National Weather Service. In the case of inclement weather, officials will immediately inform vendors & volunteers of the severity and potential delays of the FOP event via City of Paris Code Red Alert system. Due to the nature of this event the Festival of Pumpkins will not be postponed to a later date. Rain or Shine, we are going ahead as planned.”
We have all the local radio stations on the code red alert as well to be able to broadcast any information regarding the weather and potential changes in scheduling. We will be updating the Festival of Pumpkins Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ParisFestivalofPumpkins as often as possible.
Street closures downtown will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday October 23rd to begin preparations for the festival.
Says Bedford, “We are again asking for help by making employees or patrons aware that the ALL the parking spaces are needed to maneuver the vendors into the festival, and we really appreciate your help in moving all vehicles off the plaza as soon as possible after 5:00 p.m.”
This community event has become a favorite for the Northeast Texas region. Event-goers can listen to live music, enjoy a unique shopping experience and visit the many street vendors who have all your favorite festival treats like corn dogs, funnel cakes and kettle corn.
Each year the Festival holds a pet pageant, a costume contest, a pumpkin decorating contest, a petting zoo, a bungee jump and pony rides. Cash prizes are awarded for best costume and best decorated pumpkin.