Sentinel Opinion: The expansion of a favorite downtown festival is on the agenda in Keene

The most prominent of these during the last 30 years is the Keene Pumpkin Festival, as it was renamed shortly after its 1991 birth as the Harvest Festival. The City Council pulled the plug on what grew to be the region’s signature event when it refused in 2015 to relicense the festival, citing security concerns after ugly vandalism by students, many from out of the area, broke out on and near the Keene State College campus at the time of the prior year’s festival. Since then, the festival — which was untouched by and removed from the mayhem — has been periodically renewed, but the council has kept a very tight rein on the planning, in particular limiting the event’s footprint and scope and the ability of nonprofits and other vendors to participate.

Now, Let It Shine, the festival’s organizer since 2010, is making plans for this year’s event, building on the Gathering of the Gourds event it staged last fall, after a two-year pandemic-caused hiatus, on an even smaller scale as the group itself emerged from some board membership transition. President Michael Giacomo, who is also a city councilor, told The Sentinel the group will renew the Keene Pumpkin Festival name and aims for an event whose focus will be on where it was at its beginning — “on downtown Keene, families, schools and downtown businesses.”

Among the steps he described, one is particularly inspired — scheduling it for Oct. 21 to coincide with Keene State’s parent/family weekend. Though there’s nothing to see in the planning for the festival thus far for worry about excessive college-age crowds, having parents and other family in town should go far in deterring student misbehavior. And showcasing the region with a downtown event will give parents an additional reason to visit that weekend and, as Giacomo said, “hopefully serve to give downtown business a boost and paint the Elm City in a positive light for visiting families and tourists.”

Let It Shine has begun the process of seeking City Council approval, and formal consideration of the group’s proposal has been deferred while event details are discussed with city staff. Among them, Giacomo stated that, although festivities will be concentrated primarily on Central Square, the group is hoping for permission to close Main Street from there down to Railroad Square to allow for vendors and enable safe trick-or-treating. In addition, he said that, although Let It Shine would consider successful a turnout of 5,000-10,000 across the festival day, one way they’re planning to manage the festival’s size and keep it a closer-knit community celebration is to not count the pumpkins.

The group also hopes to renew an iconic feature from its past — the pumpkin tower. That scaffolding structure, stuffed with carved pumpkins, came to symbolize the festival’s downtown presence in the minds of many and would surely add unifying luster and charm for those gathering downtown to celebrate.

The logistics, including any security concerns, remain to be hammered out with city staff and approved by the council, but Let It Shine’s measured approach in its planning bodes well for a 2023 Pumpkin Festival that celebrates the community and showcases downtown Keene. And, as council members contemplate a pumpkin tower adding to the city’s skyline as a focal point for kids and residents gathering downtown, they should also reflect on the unifying role these and other downtown celebrations play in the city’s vibrancy and how changes to the downtown the council’s weighing as part of its Main Street infrastructure project might affect them.