{"id":10244,"date":"2024-01-25T17:12:29","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T17:12:29","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"Pumpkin-festival-heads-to-Weirs-Beach-Mayor-critical-of-move-53825800\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=10244","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin festival heads to Weirs Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/a>
The New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival expanded its footprint in 2023, closing off Veterans Square. Pictured, a rampart of jack-o\u2019-lanterns sets the square, which DJ Spiezio had temporarily transformed into a dance floor, aflame.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

LACONIA \u2014 When the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival first came to the city in 2015, downtown was struggling, with about half of the storefronts vacant and the Colonial Theatre closed.<\/p>\n

Eight years later, downtown is vibrant and the Colonial is hosting both national acts and theater productions. Meanwhile, the festival has grown.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of the reasoning provided by the Lakes Region Chamber, which organizes Pumpkinfest, for moving the festival from downtown. This year\u2019s festival, Oct. 25-26, will be headquartered at Weirs Beach.<\/p>\n

Karmen Gifford, chamber president, said the time had come for Pumpkinfest to find a new space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a lot of listening,\u201d Gifford said. \u201cIf we want to grow, we\u2019ve reached our maximum, space-wise, but we have also grown downtown.\u201d Much of the downtown parking lots were taken up by vendors or street closures, yet City Hall had to conduct its business on the Friday of the festival, the Colonial Theatre still scheduled shows, and the Congregational Church held its regular services on Sunday morning, which put constraints on how much space the festival could occupy, and how long vendors could have access to that space.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes more sense for our growth to bring [the festival] to Lakeside Avenue\u201d at Weirs Beach, which is typically in off-season mode by late October.<\/p>\n

Gifford anticipated being able to provide all of the hallmark experiences of the NH Pumpkin Festival \u2014 food vendors, jack-o\u2019-lantern displays and amusement rides \u2014 at Weirs Beach. She said there is also the chance to add new elements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s opportunities to do things on the pier, there\u2019s opportunities for things on the boardwalk,\u201d Gifford said, and she is already in conversation with the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad and the Mount Washington Cruises companies, both of which already have a presence in Weirs Beach, to see how those operations could add to the experience.<\/p>\n

Increasingly, hosting the event downtown has taken a toll, largely in terms of Gifford\u2019s time, trying to find ways to fit the festival into the downtown footprint without stepping on anyone else\u2019s toes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of touchpoints and engagements\u201d to keep various partners informed, Gifford said. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve walked and measured the City Hall parking lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent years, the time necessary to put on the Pumpkin Festival has pulled her away from the chamber\u2019s mission of developing a workforce for local industries. She expects to gain much of that time back, as it will be easier to locate the festival at Weirs Beach.<\/p>\n

Gifford envisions a block-party environment at the Weirs, with Lakeside Avenue, the same stretch of road that\u2019s packed with bikes every year for Laconia Motorcycle Week, closed to vehicle traffic and lined on each side with food trucks and vendors, the center lane filled with a zig-zagging display of carved pumpkins.<\/p>\n

Gifford also has her eyes on the parking lot for the beach, which she said could be a suitable site for larger amusement rides, such as a ferris wheel.<\/p>\n

She emphasized that she sees Lakeside Avenue as the \u201cheadquarters\u201d for a festival that could broaden to include activities outside of the Weirs. Meredith, Alton Bay and, yes, downtown Laconia, are all welcome to organize their own activities, and she said she\u2019d be happy to promote them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mission of the chamber is to support the region, we\u2019re a regional chamber,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my goals, starting this early, is to start hearing from people and doing some outreach,\u201d said Gifford. She endeavors to enhance the experience of the festival-goers, while also engaging with more businesses.<\/p>\n

Reactions<\/h2>\n

Anthony Santagate, owner of Tower Hill Tavern and The Big House, both nightlife-style businesses in Weirs Beach, said he\u2019d be \u201ctickled pink\u201d if Pumpkin Festival moved to his end of the city. He\u2019s been working for years to expand the business season of Weirs Beach, which traditionally didn\u2019t start until Memorial Day and wrapped up by Labor Day. He\u2019s been pushing that envelope on both ends, partnering with neighboring businesses to host block parties during both the spring and fall.<\/p>\n

He said he plans to schedule his \u201cWicked Weirs\u201d party to coincide with Pumpkin Festival.<\/p>\n

Not everyone was a fan of the move, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed, quite frankly, that it\u2019s moving there when it was so tremendously successful downtown,\u201d said Mayor Andrew Hosmer, calling the 2023 festival in particular a \u201crousing success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosmer said he didn\u2019t want to \u201cget behind pitting one part of the city against another,\u201d and said he would support positive activity no matter where it happened in Laconia, but he felt the festival\u2019s proper home was downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a number of businesses down there saw a tremendous benefit,\u201d Hosmer said. \u201cThat made it a special weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Manager Kirk Beattie said the possibility of such a move had been discussed among city officials for a couple of months, and the consensus of City Council seemed to be it should remain a downtown festival.<\/p>\n

Hosmer said he saw the move as a loss for downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city has made a massive investment in downtown. The reason we do this is because we knew it would have a positive economic impact. Pulling this out of downtown lessens the impact that we\u2019ve been working very hard to create,\u201d Hosmer said. \u201cLet\u2019s face it, Pumpkinfest was a banner day, a banner weekend for these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the city is well versed in hosting street festivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a bit of a disconnect,\u201d Hosmer said, adding that he\u2019s \u201chappy to continue the conversation with Karmen and with the Chamber of Commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LACONIA \u2014 When the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival first came to the city in 2015, downtown was struggling, with about half of the storefronts vacant and the Colonial Theatre closed.Eight years later, downtown is vibrant and the Colonial is hosting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":10245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=9]Adam Drapcho[\/Author] The Laconia Daily Sun","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[508,12],"tags":[505],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[563],"class_list":["post-10244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-headlines-cm","category-town-city-government","tag-paywall","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/42776581-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10246,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10244\/revisions\/10246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10244"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=10244"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=10244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}