Collectors Pumpkin Festival: Eating Pumpkin Pie

Every year, in a small rural town called Collector, a GIANT pumpkin festival is held, to celebrate all things pumpkins.

The whole town shuts down for the day, to allow for hundreds of stalls and activities to line the streets, which include everything from pony rides, pumpkin wheelbarrow rides, scarecrow building and giant pumpkin competitions.

It’s a pretty big day for Collector, and for many outsiders. Collector is located about 25 to 35 minutes out of Canberra in New South Wales. So there were a LOT of people, probably most of the population of Canberra. With ques a mile long for many of the events and food stalls. And although it was a nice day, walking in the beautiful sunshine of a stunning Autumn day, I was a little disappointed there weren’t a lot of pumpkin inspired things there. Sure there were plenty of activities for kids which were related to pumpkins, like the pumpkin rolling and pumpkin wheelbarrow race. However, there was only 1 stall in over 100 which was selling foods inspired by pumpkin. The rest were hamburgers, hotdogs, plenty of coffee, deep fried food and even more than 4 stalls selling Gozleme, none of which were selling pumpkin inspired foods. The rest of the stalls were more about selling stuffed animals, chilli, fresh veggies and clothing.

I did commit to waiting in a line for nearly 30 minutes in order to try the pumpkin pie, and must admit, the wait as worth it. Would I ever go ahead? Probably not, but I am glad I went to see what all the fuss was about. But, don’t let that turn you off from trying it out next year. Every one has a different experience.