On Saturday, along Avenue A, there will be pumpkins, food, kids in costumes, music and performances. That event, which may sound a lot like Pumpkinfest, has a new name this year: The Great Falls Festival.
Organizer Michael Nelson said the name change reflected overall changes in the festival over time. He said when they first started Pumpkinfest, they envisioned a large display of pumpkins on Avenue A, and while people do bring pumpkins to the event, it never quite came to fruition they way they expected it to.
“The evolution hasn’t quite gone in that direction,” he said.
With that in mind, they chose The Great Falls Festival as the new name. Great Falls was the name of the village of Turners Falls in the precolonial era, but the name of the festival has several meanings. For instance, saying “Falls” not only describes the former falls of the Connecticut River, but the fall season, and the “Great” is an adjective describing the festival as well as the traditional name.
Nelson said the name also incorporates all of the fall seasonal aspects of the festival. It will still include the pumpkin portions of the event, too. Children are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes.
“Nothing about the event has changed, including the pumpkins,” he said.
It’s the eighth year for the event, which started in 2010, and runs along Avenue A from First to Seventh streets. Attractions include food and craft vendors, two music stages, one performance stage, a free children’s craft area, a pumpkin decorating station and a local beer garden.
Food offerings include traditional fair food and more exotic items like pumpkin fries and alligator meat. Organizers recommend bringing cash for food and craft vendors.
Nelson said that those interested may still bring carved pumpkins, but there is no pumpkin carving at the event due to insurance reasons. He added that this is such a unique attraction to the area because of how invested the local community has become in the event. It’s one of the main fall festivals in the area.
“The word community is reflected in all aspects in the event,” he said. “It’s seeing our friends and neighbors and supporting them and being a part of the downtown community.”
All pumpkins left in the display will be composted and taken to local farms, and Nelson said that over half of the trash produced at The Great Falls Festival will be recycled through the event’s partnership with the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District. The event is cleaned up by the Greenfield High School Environmental Science Club as a fundraiser for the group.
Those with carved pumpkins can bring them to the drop-off station in front of the St. Kazimierz Society at 197 Ave. A, starting at 10 a.m. that Saturday. The free shuttle from Turners Falls High School runs from 2 to 10 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public, and runs from 2 to 9 p.m. A full schedule of events and performances can be found at: www.facebook.com/greatfallsfestival/.