Milford holds 27th annual festival
MILFORD – Nothing says New England like the transcendent symphony of burning firewood, festival food and technicolor leaves.
Such was the scene Saturday at the 27th annual Milford Pumpkin Festival. The small town’s biggest event, the festival draws thousands to its sights, smells and sounds, transforming the area surrounding the Oval into a full-blown autumn extravaganza.
Near the gazebo, the crowd explored dozens of vendors selling everything from cotton candy to meat kabobs to pumpkin-themed ornaments. Meanwhile, at one of the two music stages, the Doubleneck Guitar Duo performed a set of laid-back blues as children rode the carousel and Ferris wheel.
Kye Hall, of Milford, and Grady Sullivan, of New Boston, enjoyed some maple cotton candy on a park bench.
Hall said she comes to the event every year, but it was Sullivan’s first time. They agreed their favorite attractions were the clothing vendors inside Town Hall.
Lynn Desmarais, of Milford, owner of the vendor Gorgeous Creations, said she has been working the event for years.
"It’s the happening thing in Milford," Desmarais said.
A staple of the Pumpkin Festival is the Great Pumpkin Contest, for which contestants throughout the state submit their entries to vie for the title of biggest pumpkin. This year’s winner was Steve Geddes, of Boscawen, whose pumpkin weighed in at 2,066 pounds.