MILFORD – All through summer, pumpkin growers have been babying their orange gourds in anticipation of the 28th annual Milford Pumpkin Festival when the huge vegetables will be on proud display.

The giant pumpkins are brought in to the Oval and weighed Saturday morning, and Bob Kokko will announce the winners around noon.

But there’s much more than that to the Columbus Day weekend festival.

It begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday, with live music all evening and a beer, wine and spirits tasting event on the Community House lawn. There also will be food and craft vendors and a Haunted Trail at Emerson Park.

At 6:45 p.m. on the Oval, Milford’s Citizen of the Year will be announced by the Historical Society, followed by the Pumpkin Runner’s lighting of Town Hall windows.

On Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., there will be food vendors, pumpkin sales, crafts booths in Town Hall and a line-up of musical performances and safety-related activities for children on Middle Street from the Milford Ambulance Service.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Milford Fire Department will have an open house, with a demonstration at 2 p.m.

Around noon on Saturday, the region’s biggest pumpkins will be weighed, with cash prizes for the largest and also the largest Milford-grown pumpkins.

At 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. local historian Dave Palance will lead walks through the Elm Street Cemetery. Meet at the Milford Historical Society on Union Street and walk over.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Universal Unitarian Church on Elm Street will be joining the fun and offering some rest with a hot lunch, beverages, low-cost kids’ lunches, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie by the slice and places to sit.

At Railroad Pond, there will be a pumpkin catapult with floating scarecrows to benefit Dollars for Scholars from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, the events continue until 3 p.m., with the day starting with a waffle breakfast at the fire station.

Throughout the event, there will be a Milford Improvement Team/Chamber of Commerce tent on the Oval where festival-goers can pick up a guide to the festival as well as raffle tickets for a chance to win 2017-2018 Crotched Mountain season ski passes (two adult and two youth) valued at $1,400.

The festival is being organized by the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce, the town of Milford and the Milford Improvement Team.

Representatives from the three groups will meet right after the festival to begin planning the 29th.

But “it couldn’t be done without volunteers,” said Wendy Hunt, executive director of the Chamber. “It’s the greatest thing, all that they do for us.”

Milford farmer Sean Trombly provides the hay and stalks that decorate the Community House lawn and are used to make scarecrows, and Bob Kokko continues to donate pumpkins large and small, sales of which pay for the giant pumpkin prize money.

The strong backs of the boys on the Milford High School soccer team are a huge help, she said, in moving vendors and setting up and cleaning up.

Schools, scouts, church groups and other nonprofits partner with festival organizers on activities like face painting, scarecrow making, pumpkin painting and raffle sales. About one-third of the total booth spaces are made available to them at a non-profit rate or no charge if they aren’t selling anything.