Every October zombie-like creatures appear in the streets of Kentville. They're lumpy, ill-dressed, and sometimes their heads fall off. They're the stars of the town's Pumpkin People Festival, which celebrates the approach of Hallowe'en.
In 2006 they staged a parade.
In 2010 they were joined by a bad bunch from Star Wars.
In 2013 the police nabbed one of the culprits.
Pumpkins Are Big in the Valley
Every October there's also a Pumpkin Festival in nearby Windsor. One of the main events is a weigh-off where growers compete for the heaviest pumpkin title. The seeds used are those of the Atlantic Giant variety, developed by Howard Dill of Windsor. They are capable of producing behemoths so huge that forklifts are required to move them.
Smaller versions, in the vicinity of 500-600 lbs are snapped up by people to compete in the annual Pumpkin Regatta. They are hollowed out, painted, and paddled across a small lake. There's even a motorized division.
Valley Ghost Walks
I'm not sure why pumpkins are associated with Hallowe'en, especially since in some places it used to be called Cabbage Night, but pumpkin people share the limelight with Valley Ghost Walks, now in its 15th season and taking place in the evening in various venues.
I went to one in 2015 and heard about spooky and sometimes unsettling events from the past, such as the location of Gallows Hill where hangings once took place.
I attended another at Riverside Cemetery in Hantsport, and learned that buried there in 1888 are more than 30 people, the cause of death believed to be "black fish cholera" resulting from beached pilot whales that were used to fertilize fields.
Nova Scotia has a powerful association with ghosts and spooky phenomena. Being on the Atlantic coast, it has seen its share of maritime disasters. A graveyard in Halifax holds most of the bodies recovered from the sinking of the Titanic. The Halifax Explosion killed 2000 and flattened the north end of the city. There are shipwrecks on every coast, and attacks by by pirates and privateers have fed superstitions about hauntings and forerunners, as recorded by Helen Creighton in Bluenose Ghosts and Bluenose Magic. Even ghost ships have been spotted.
2022
The theme for this year's Pumpkin People is the Animal Kingdom.
The Pumpkin People were featured in a charming children's book by Sandra and Ron Lightburn, published by Nimbus in 2008. It's 32 pages long.
Finally, my own attempt at celebrating Hallowe'en.
