The Morton Pumpkin Festival is an annual four-day festival held in mid-September in Morton, Illinois since 1967. The event now draws more than 75,000 attendees annually.^[1] It is organized and sponsored by the Morton Chamber of Commerce.^[1][2]

History

The first Morton Pumpkin Festival was organized in 1967 as a fundraiser and celebration of the annual pumpkin harvest at the local Libby's plant.^[1][3] The plant was constructed in 1925 by the Dickinson Canning Company, which was purchased by Libby's in 1929.^[4][5][6] Nearby Eureka, Illinois claimed the title of "Pumpkin Capital of the World" due to its 1895 canning factory, which was consolidated with Morton's operations in the late 1950s and purchased by Nestlé in 1972.^[4][6] Eureka held an annual pumpking festival from 1939-1962.^[5][7]

In 1978, Governor James R. Thompson declared Morton the “Pumpkin Capital of the World.”^[4][3][8] Morton's title of "Pumpkin Capital of the World" is tied to the presence of the Nestlé-owned Libby's pumpkin processing plant, which processes more than 80 percent of the world's canned pumpkin.^[9][10][11] In 2012, Libby's became an official sponsor of the event.^[1]

Libby's has an exclusive brand of pumpkins, Dickinson Select, which about 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) are planted in Morton farmlands.^[4][5] According to Nestlé, "Libby’s Dickinson Select pumpkins are grown exclusively in the rich farmlands around Morton, Illinois."^[4][6] The Dickinson cultivar has a "delicious taste, creamy texture, and pleasing orange color", but does not look like the traditional pumpkin used for carving jack-o-lanterns.^[12]

In 2015, State Representative Keith Sommer of Morton co-sponsored a bill to make pumpkin pie the official State Pie of Illinois.^[13][14][15]

A virtual event was held in 2020 as many physical ones were scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[16]

Festival Themes

Each year, the Morton Chamber of Commerce selects a special theme for the Morton Pumpkin Festival.^[17] Festival themes are voted on by the general public while taking the annual Pumpkin Festival Survey in September. The top festival theme choices are then taken to the Pumpkin Festival Oversight Committee and the Morton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for the final selection. Themes are announced in January or February during the Morton Chamber of Commerce Annual Meet Up.

Many of the Pumpkin Festival events and activities including the parades, pageants, entertainment, competitions, and opening ceremony incorporate costumes, music, and other elements in celebration of the annual theme.

Food

Many attendees of the festival come just for the food, especially the pumpkin flavored food. Beyond the usual fair/carnival favorites and pumpkin pie, some of the other items include pumpkin chili, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin doughnuts, and pumpkin ice cream.

The marquee food-related event typically happens on the Saturday morning of the Pumpkin Festival. Saturday morning showcases the all-you-can-eat Pumpkin Pancake breakfast.^[20]

Punkin Chuckin'

The Punkin Chuckin' Contest was a Morton tradition that involved giant contraptions that hurled, catapulted, or shot 5-10 pound pumpkins in the air into an open field. The competition began in 1996^[21] and its last year was 2016. Competitors competed for the title of “Punkin' Chucker Supreme” with a one-mile goal. The contest was modeled after the contest in Sussex County, Delaware (which plans to move to Rantoul, Illinois in November 2019) the first weekend after Halloween, but Morton holds the world record for farthest pumpkin thrown.

The Punkin Chuckin’ Contest turned out various machines,^[22] from trebuchets to air cannons,^[23] with one machine holding a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.^[24] The Q-36 Pumpkin Modulator is a 100-foot (30 m) long air cannon that fired a pumpkin 4,680 feet (1,430 m) for a world record (the record as of November 2010 is held by team Big 10 Inch at 5545.43 ft).^[21] The Q-36 has an 80-foot (24 m) barrel and a 1,800-US-gallon (6,800 L) air tank and tips the scale at 36,000 pounds (16,000 kg). A pumpkin leaving the tube flies at nearly 681 miles per hour (1,096 km/h) but loses velocity quickly. This cannon has been seen on the Late Show with David Letterman as well as another famous device, the Acme Catapult, which saw airtime on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2003.^{[25][26][23][27]}

Performances

Performances in 2019 included: Morton High School (Morton, Illinois), Central Illinois Banjo Club, New Odyssey Guy, Bogside Zukes, Cousin Eddie, Jim Markum Swing Band, and American English.^[28]

References

40°36′42″N 89°27′48″W / 40.61167°N 89.46333°W / 40.61167; -89.46333