LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Elaborate hand-carved jack-o'-lanterns return to Iroquois Park.

What You Need To Know

  •  Jack-O' Lantern Spectacular returns an 11th year

  •  Local artists commission to hand-carved elaborate jack-O'-lanterns

  •  Ticket sales help fund projects at other Louisville parks

  • Event starts Oct. 3 and runs through 31

There may be no other Halloween tradition like it in all of Kentucky. The 11th annual Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois Park features pumpkins hand carved by over two dozen local artists.

Inside a fan-cooled warehouse, Alene Day is surrounded by some pretty big pumpkins.

“Along the trail are the largest, intricate pumpkins, which are what you see here that have the hand-drawn images and carved images that pertain to the theme this year,” Day told Spectrum News 1.

Day is the studio manager for the Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular and every year there’s a new theme. “Which is ‘Wanderlust,” Day said. Translation? The love of travel and adventure.

“We have 18 skits along the trail of various themes that represent Wanderlust to us,” she said.

During this visit, Day is less than a week away from opening night, so it’s time to carve the first round of pumpkins.

The Louisville artist has been painting portraits for much of her life and for the last eight years she’s been carving portraits on pumpkins for this month-long event.

“Like the twinkle in his eye, I’ll use one of my tools and I’ll really get in there with that and that will really sparkle once the pumpkin is carved out from behind and lit up,” Day said while putting the finishing designs on a pumpkin tribute to the David Crosby.

And it’s hard to compare the pumpkin medium with any other. Day said there’s an added level of excitement and pressure, knowing you’re trying to create something spectacular on a canvas that’s temporary.

“Carving pumpkins, there’s nothing like it. There’s something really fun about the fact that its temporary artwork. You know, this is going to go away. We still feel pressure to make them great, but it’s just a different kind of pressure.”      

A pressure she may feel but an experience she shares with her fellow artists.

“It’s just nice to be around so many artists in here and share our experiences and points of view that then eventually show up on these pumpkins,” Day said.

Tickets are available right now, but weekend times fill up fast. The 11th Annual Jack-O’-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois starts Oct. 3 through the 31.

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