This family-friendly festival is free admission with a mix of free and paid activities. Special guests include SciTech Museum, local pumpkin carver Joe Adkins, Dona Benkert Folk Music, Dick’s Donuts and Heavenly Hot Dogs. This year, kids can take a hayride around the solar system, go on a scavenger hunt for pumpkin aliens, make mini pumpkin astronauts or aliens, race mini pumpkin UFOs, vote for their favorite giant decorated pumpkins and more.
Proceeds collected from the hayrides will be donated to SciTech Museum. SciTech was founded by Ernest Malamud, a physicist at FermiLab. His dream was to create a place where children and adults alike can explore, learn, discover, and imagine their future. Located in a historic post office in the heart of downtown Aurora, SciTech is 30,000 square feet that encourages guests to imagine, explore, and discover.
The Growing Place Garden Center in Aurora is located at 2000 Montgomery Road, 2 blocks north of Ogden Ave/Route 34 and Rush Copley Medical Center. Visit thegrowingplace.com for the full schedule of events.
Full Schedule for Pumpkin Palooza
Saturday, October 5, 9am-5pm & Sunday, October 6, 11am-5pm
Free Entry. Activities priced individually.
Activities
All Day: Vote for your favorite giant decorated pumpkin (Free); Make a mini pumpkin astronaut or alien ($3); Race a mini pumpkin UFO ($3); Paint a pumpkin ($5); Take a hayride around the solar system ($1 donation. Proceeds benefit SciTech Museum); Go on a friendly alien pumpkin scavenger hunt (Free) and play pumpkin games (Free).
11am-3pm: Plant a Pump-cculent Using a pumpkin and succulents, create a unique, long-lasting fall centerpiece for your table. (Cost of pumpkin + $10 for small or $20 for large pumpkin)
11am-3pm: Explore space and science with SciTech Museum
1-3pm: Watch as local pumpkin carver Joe Adkins carves some extra large pumpkins
1-5pm: Dona Benkert Folk Music – Play along with them
Food Vendors
9am-5pm: Dick’s Donuts, 11am-3pm: Heavenly Hot Dogs
Committed to delivering uncompromised quality and selection of plants, The Growing Place Garden Center serves customers in local communities with two locations, the original site on Plank Road in Naperville and the retail and growing facilities on Montgomery Road in Aurora, IL. Both locations feature beautiful display gardens for inspiration, annuals and perennials, herbs and vegetables, trees and shrubs. Each location has a gift shop and offers container and landscape design, tours, talks and events. Family-owned since 1936, Emma and Fritz Glatzhofer specialized in field-grown perennials. Nephew Rich Massat, and his wife, Carol expanded and renamed the nursery The Growing Place in 1976. The 18-acre Aurora production farm and retail garden center opened in 1989. Learn more at thegrowingplace.com.
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