Westboro Pumpkin Parade Turns 10!

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Westboro’s favourite Halloween celebration: the Byron Path Pumpkin Parade. Every year on November 1, hundreds of people bring their jack-o’-lanterns to the Byron path, lining it from Island Park to Granville, and sometimes even beyond that, with their Halloween pumpkins. This year, that parade reached 1400 pumpkins! Every year, volunteers with flickering lighters and tealights light hundreds of pumpkins by hand - and clean them up in the morning. This year some volunteers from Nepean helped out too. In 2012, Iona Park hosted the Pumpkin Parade for the very first time. The next year marked the start of the pumpkin parade as we know it, with 50 pumpkins lined up along the Byron path. Over the years, that parade has grown. 600, 800, 1000, 1400! Some people in the area have grown up with the parade, making it a tradition to visit every year. Coordinating the parade for the last decade was Anita Grace, a Westboro resident. As it turns out, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than you might think. Finding volunteers, buying candles (so many candles), getting enough lighters to keep hundreds of candles lit for hours. Figuring out what to do with all the rotting pumpkins the next day, and who's going to help move them. All of this is a lot. Thankfully, Jeff Leiper, our city councillor, will be running the parade, starting next year. That will help insure permits and pay for trucks to help remove the pumpkins, as well as providing the candles and such. For ten years, the pumpkin parade along Byron has been bringing the community together the night after Halloween. It’s a beautiful celebration of Halloween spirit; showcasing pumpkins carved by everyone from first graders to professional artists. Maybe next year, your pumpkin might find its way there too.