The History of the Great Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival: How it all began in 2010

The Great Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival has become such a unique community tradition here in Montgomery Village… but have you ever wondered how it all started?

We took a look back at the original event program, older editions of the Montgomery Village News and had a conversation with one of the creators, Recreation Program Manager at the time, Ed Kallas, to get the backstory of how this race got its start and how it has remained a part of the fabric of Montgomery Village Foundation (MVF) for over 15 years. 

Back in 2010, MVF was undergoing a rebrand, introducing MV Fit and committing more resources to large-scale maintenance, such as adding trees and planting flowers around the community. Kallas recalls that it was at this time that MVF staff began brainstorming different ideas for a brand-new Village-wide special event for the fall.

After hosting numerous meetings with staff and residents and researching other community events around the country, the committee landed on creating a soap-box derby style race with racers built out of pumpkins, with an entire festival taking place around the race. The pumpkin racers would be decorated and customized, and anyone from the community would be able to enter a pumpkin in the race.

Once the idea for The Great Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival was born, it became an all hands on deck effort to design the look of the event, come up a set of simple, straight-forward race rules, and include activities for the entire family to enjoy – something that residents would come to love.

For events like these, “you've got to appeal to every sense at the same time,” said Kallas. The idea was to create a large festival, featuring fall elements, that appealed to all senses – the visuals of racetrack, the aroma of food, and the sound of live music.

Peggy Mark, former Director of Recreation and Parks, was integral in the details of the event, leading planning meetings and coordinating logistics along with the committee. Meanwhile, Assistant Director of Recreation and Parks Scott Gole, Kallas, Recreation Specialist Jana Serlo, and other staff members formed an operations team, and oversaw the project of developing the first-ever Great Pumpkin Race.

He recounted the amount of beta testing staff had to do to achieve the ideal racer, track, and spectator experience. Tests and trials included participation from residents and MVF Board Members.

In terms of transforming the pumpkins into racers, the operations team, which also included members of the MVF maintenance crew, had to figure out how the mechanics of it would work. Should the racer have steel bars? What types of wheels? How many screws? Kallas mentioned the importance in making the assembly of the racers easy. Creating this racer kit was crucial in encouraging participation and making entry into the race accessible to everyone.

Back in 2010, the operations team bought tons of supplies from the hardware store and began building pumpkin racers to test. After plenty of trials and experiments, they found that four wheels, two threaded axels, washers (or metal rings), and nuts worked well with most pumpkins. Thus, the pumpkin racer kits were created. That said, participants have always been encouraged to use whatever setup and hardware they prefer. They could not, however, use weights or have any sort of motor propellant, or it would be classified as a cheater pumpkin. (More on that later!)

Next came the starting line. Staff went back and forth for weeks about how the race would actually begin. Would people push their racers up until a certain line and then release them? They entertained other more sophisticated methods for the race start until the aha moment finally came to them – they would build a ramp.

Once the kits and ramp were made, the team had to develop a handful of simple rules. In short, the Great Pumpkin Race is a unique side-by-side, single-elimination race featuring handcrafted, decorated pumpkin race cars. Whoever crosses the finish line first moves on. Kallas mentioned that he was initially worried that most pumpkins would turn sideways instead of steering straight, or they would break down and fall apart, which could potentially upset participants.

The MV community embraced the wackiness and fun of the unpredictability of the pumpkins. Kallas remembers during that first race that the reaction to every pumpkin that crashed, cracked, or went off course was pure joy and laughter.

“Everybody was just really enjoying it, you know, and, some of the pumpkins went really fast and were great too,” Kallas said.

A huge part of the pumpkin race is the commentary. The emcee, “Radio” Dave Ambramowitz brought humor and energy to each race that captivated the audience and made the race feel more like a show. “Radio” has been part of the live entertainment of the event since 2010, both as a musician and providing real-time commentary during the different pumpkin race heats. And he has also served as the referee.

And we can’t talk about the pumpkin racers and the emcee without mentioning the cheater pumpkins as well.

During that first year, staff decided to rig a pumpkin on purpose to add to the spectacle of the event, and noticed just how much the crowd enjoyed seeing that cheater pumpkin meet its fate with the giant hammer that “Radio” used to smash it. Towards the end of the event, a resident volunteered to race a cheater pumpkin and get disqualified. With “Radio” getting the entire crowd to playfully boo his pumpkin, the resident had fun embracing the disqualification and pumpkin smashing that came with it.

Kallas remembers how much it meant to staff to keep the crowd engaged and felt it was important to develop an entire show around the different race heats. The 2^nd year of the Great Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival, he recalls, featured many more cheater pumpkins.

It’s hard to know what to expect when an event is completely new, and Kallas described being pleasantly surprised by the number of people who bought into the theme and the award categories.

“The creativity of the pumpkins was really funny. People really spent some time decorating,” he said. Part of the fun for attendees is going around and looking at all the colorful and creative pumpkins as well as showcasing their own designs.

Another important detail of the day-of logistics added along the way included bleachers next to the course. The stadium-like seating allows spectators to comfortably watch the races. Early editions of the Fall Festival included a baking contest, hayrides, games, and crafts like scarecrow making.

“I just remember it went well. I remember we had a lot of volunteers. I remember the staff really enjoyed working it,” Kallas said of the very first Great Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival in 2010.

The joy that staff felt back then has carried over year after year. Now in its 17^th year, it’s amazing to see how all that work back then is reflected to this day. The essence of the Great Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival remains the same, as it continues to bring in new folks to enjoy the festivities and make their own memories as they form part of this tradition.

“We wanted it to be real. We wanted people to love it. And I remember how much it mattered to us. It was one of the moments that we all kind of did a group hug after the Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival. Because it was just so much fun, especially that first year, and it's even more fun when it's a brand-new event that you have no idea if people are going to like it.”

It’s safe to say that our community loves it. 

The first Great Pumpkin Race and Fall Festival mentioned in the 2010 Montgomery Village Fall Recreation Guide: