The festival offers a variety of dishes to tempt your taste buds. You can enjoy pumpkin-flavored fare, as well as grilled goodies such as pork chop sandwiches. (Photo courtesy Morton Pumpkin Festival)

Ahoy, mateys!

Ye be ready for the Morton Pumpkin Festival?

The 49^th annual event, with its “Pumpkins of the Caribbean” theme, is scheduled from Wednesday, Sept. 16, through Saturday, Sept. 19.

“It’ll be a lot of the same great events that people love,” says Brian Anderson, executive director of the Morton Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the festivities.

These events celebrate the community’s pumpkin harvesting and canning industry. For instance, there’s the Morton Pumpkin Classic 10K Run and 2 Mile Walk that’s supposed to attract up to 1,800 participants on Saturday, Sept. 19. The Pumpkin Festival Parade is set to step off at 10:30 a.m. that morning.

A number of competitions will test visitors skills in areas from pumpkin pie eating to photography and from singing to pumpkin decorating. Pumpkin growers can participate in the annual weigh-off, with trophies and cash prizes awarded in a number of categories to both kids and adults.

The annual Pumpkin Festival Parade is one of the highlights of the Morton Pumpkin Festival. This year’s Pumpkin Festival Parade is set up to step off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19. (Photo courtesy Morton Pumpkin Festival)

This year’s pirate theme will be incorporated throughout the festival, Anderson says.  A “Talk Like a Pirate Day” contest is scheduled for Sept. 19. A swordsmanship demonstration and a kids’ pirate treasure hunt also are planned.

The Morton Pumpkin Festival features more than 30 special events and is estimated to attract 70,000 visitors throughout the four-day celebration.

“It’s not your typical community event. There’s a lot to do,” Anderson says. “You can really make a whole day out of it.”

Anderson has some advice for first-time visitors:

• Plan ahead. Look over the schedule and decide what you want to do while at the festival. If you’re looking to just enjoy the carnival rides, take in a little live music and get a bite to eat, you might want to go either Wednesday or Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the peak days when it comes to crowds, he says.
• Come hungry and have an open mind. Of course, there’s going to be a lot of pumpkin fare such as pumpkin pie (whole and by the slice), pumpkin doughnuts and pumpkin ice cream. But there’ll be other menu items that you wouldn’t normally associate with pumpkin, such as pumpkin pasta salad, pumpkin baked beans and pumpkin corn bread. They’re becoming popular and are worth a try, Anderson suggests.
• If you’re craving something that doesn’t feature the pumpkin, there’s grilled fare such as hoagies and pork chop sandwiches, as well as traditional carnival food like corn dogs, pizza and funnel cakes, as well apple cider slushies.

Morton is eight miles east of Peoria at the crossroads of Interstates 74 and 155.

For a complete schedule, directions and parking information, as well as more details, visit mortonpumpkinfestival.org.

— Morton pumpkin festival taking on a pirate flair  —