Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkin Pop-Up carves out a new face this year
Share this post:
The Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkin Festival has turned into the Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkin Pop-Up.
The pandemic won’t allow for the traditional event along Pittsburgh’s North Shore, but organizers have devised another way.
Not far from the usual spot, they will create a “mammoth, pumpkin-carved and painted scene of Pittsburgh’s mythical river creature” known as the “Monongahela Monster” in Gold Parking Lot 1-A near Heinz Field, according to Michael Dongilli of Vivid Pittsburgh, the event manager and producer. People will be able to drive past the display.
It’s almost here… ?
JOIN US! https://t.co/gRb5GXtNDH pic.twitter.com/d6Z6gbPenn
— Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkins Pop-Up Festival (@MonsterPumpkins) September 15, 2020
The display will extend nearly half a football field wide and be roughly 10 feet tall. It will be up from Oct. 30 through Nov. 5. There are no Steelers or Pitt football games that weekend.
The event is free.
“We really had to think about how we could make it work and still be able to do something in compliance with safety and health protocols,” Dongilli said. “The pumpkins are so big that they will be easily seen from the car. We plan to light it up at night.”
[gps-image name=”3016961_web1_PTR-PUMPKINFEST-2.jpg”]
Four master pumpkin carvers will create carved pumpkins of sea (or in this case, river) creatures. They are Dean Murray, known as the “pumpkin whisperer” of Washington State; Danny Kissel of Newville, outside of Harrisburg, who will be on the Food Network’s “Outrageous Pumpkins” on Sunday night; Greg Butauski of Ohio, a prominent ice carving champion and one of only six master carvers certified by the National Ice Carving Association; and Patrick O’Brien, the “Fruit Carving Ninja,” of North Carolina.
This will be Kissel’s third time at the event. He will be creating a skeleton driving a sunken ship. He estimates there will be 15,000 pounds of pumpkins. They will be raised on pallets and illuminated from surrounding lighting to create interesting shadows.
“This event will be different than any other we have done,” said Kissel. “It should be cool. This is going to be one big orange pumpkin display.”
On either side of the large pumpkins will be walls of smaller pumpkins that Pittsburgh graffiti artists Max “Gems” Gonzales, Shane Pilster and Scott Brozovich will paint to extend the designs on the large pumpkins. Dongilli said the graffiti artists are used to doing work on a large area, so he is excited to see the finished mural.
“This is going to be a good challenge,” said Gonzales. “There is a lot of surface to cover. We hope to create a good flow from the pumpkins to our mural.”
There won’t be any vendors, boat races, kid’s tractor pull, pie-eating contests, or pumpkin giveaways for the event, which traditionally brings 100,000 people, according to Dongilli.
There will be a pumpkin drop to raise money for Project Bundle-Up, which provides coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots to children. It will be done the final day via Facebook Live, Dongilli said. The pumpkin takes a free fall from 100 feet into a pool of water that contains numbered ping-pong balls. Participants are assigned a ball for a donation. After the pumpkin hits the water, the ball that travels the farthest wins a prize.