A “Ghost” pumpkin was featured with many others at this year’s Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular. PHOTO CREDIT: Contributed by Juliana Lepore
The Roger Williams Park Zoo’s annual Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular was a real hit this year, featuring pumpkins carved through the decades of music.
For a nice fall activity, my friend and I decided to take a trip up to Providence to go check out the Roger Williams Park Zoo Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular. Both of us being from Connecticut, we’d never been before, and we were not disappointed.
The show takes you on a leisurely walk through the zoo, which has been decorated for Halloween. When you first enter the zoo, there’s people leading you to parking spots, which is always a plus at large events because parking can be hard to come by.
This year, the zoo took on a “150 years of music” theme with their jack-o-lanterns, providing something relatable for people of all ages. In a promo on their website, the zoo described the event as, “From Joplin to Jay-Z, experience 150 years of music.”
As you walked through, it felt like you were going through time. Starting with the 1860s and going into the 2010s, you get a full immersive experience decade by decade, complete with music and decorations relevant to the time period.
The pumpkins were carved by professional artists, and the talent that is presented on the pumpkins blew my mind. As a very non-artistic person, the attention to detail was incredible, as each drawing looked exactly like what it was portraying.
On the weekdays, adult tickets are $17, and on the weekends, they’re $21. I think that for the hard work that must go into producing this show, the tickets are very reasonably priced, and you won’t feel like you wasted your money afterwards.
The show happens every day and has shows every hour from 6-10:30 p.m. until Oct. 31. I went at 6 p.m., which was a bit too early because the sun wasn’t fully set at the time we went. If you plan on going, I would recommend a later show when the sun is down, so that the trail is lit up solely by the pumpkins and you get the full experience.
Like most events of this regard, a professional photographer and zoo staff member take your picture on the way in on a camera. In order to see the photo after, you have to pay for the prints, keychains, etc. This isn’t a necessary expense, however the photos are very cute and will have good memories behind it. If you’d rather just take your own photo, there are plenty of other opportunities to take them (without flash, of course).
I will say, the target audience for this event is for children, and my friend and I found ourselves being the only teenagers there. However, it’s definitely enjoyable for all ages.
Some of my personal favorite pumpkins featured scenes from movies, such as “Rocky,” and a jaw-dropping carving of The Beatles.
As for food, a number of different vendors were at the zoo serving classics such as hot dogs, fried dough, churros and other carnival-like foods of that sort. For those over 21, there were a variety of different alcoholic drink options that I cannot review, however I’m sure tasted great.
Overall, my experience at the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular was a great one. I got to try something new, eat good food and admire amazing art.