Carved at Descanso Gardens
DESCANSO GARDENS TO GLOW WITH THE LIGHT OF A THOUSAND PUMPKINS DURING
A NEW SHOW, CARVED, RUNNING OCTOBER 23-27, 2019
This October, Descanso Gardens will be aglow with festive carved pumpkins when a brand new event, Carved, debuts. For five evenings in October, a thousand professionally-carved pumpkins will line a 1-mile walk through the Camellia Forest and Oak Grove. The event runs just five nights, from October 23–27, 2019. General admission tickets cost $25 for members, $30 nonmembers. Members will have access to a special presale starting September 1 and nonmember tickets will go on sale October 1.
Carved is a family-friendly event for all ages. Along the walk, visitors can view more than 1,000 jack-o’-lanterns, all carved from real pumpkins. About 75 of those will be enormous 100-pound-plus pumpkins carved by professional local artists. These special jack-o’-lanterns will feature popular themes like superheroes, famous movie monsters and more. Along with pumpkins, there will be seasonal snacks, live carving demonstrations and special surprises.
“Carved was designed to give visitors of all ages a festive and fun evening at Halloween time,” said Executive Director Juliann Rooke. “Not only does Carved showcase the season, but it’s also a unique experience in the Gardens.”
As part of the Carved experience, visitors will be invited to watch the pumpkins being carved in the Gardens’ Van de Kamp Hall in the week leading up to the event. “These are some of the most talented illustrators and sculptors we’ve ever met, and it shows in the quality of work they produce,” said Mike Pollock, executive producer of the event.
This is not the first time pumpkins have been showcased at Descanso. In 2014 and 2015 RISE of the Jack O’ Lanterns, also produced by Pollack and Thomas Olton, was staged in the Rose Garden. The popularity of that event inspired Descanso to create its own nighttime event, Enchanted: Forest of Light. But in the years since, Descanso has received countless requests from the public to bring back the jack-o’-lanterns.
“Ambiance is a big part of the experience, and this location could not be more beautiful or better suited for this type of exhibition,” Pollock said. “We’re also excited to return because our previous visitors have been so vocal about bringing jack-o’-lanterns back to the Gardens.”
CARVED
Dates: Oct. 23–27
Time: 6:30–10:30pm
Tickets: $25 for Descanso Gardens members, $30 for non-members
Member Presale: Sept. 1
Tickets on Sale: Oct. 1
Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011.
