Dalston Pumpkin Lantern Festival is back!
This event is one of the highlights of the Garden’s calendar and much loved by visitors of all ages! We work hard to make sure that as many people as possible are able to join in creating a lantern on our ‘Community Pumpkin-carving Weekend’ or are able to come along to see hundreds of lanterns all aglow in the Garden on daily ‘Light Up Nights’. To help you plan your visit, please take a look at the information below, which answers the many questions we are asked every year.
This year’s ‘Community Pumpkin-carving Weekend’ will take place on:
Saturday 25 October, 12noon-5pm
Sunday 26 October, 12noon-3pm *
We do not take bookings for the pumpkin-carving sessions and we ask for a donation of £3-5 per participant when signing up.
‘Light Up Nights’ will take place daily from:
Monday 27 October – Friday 31 October,
with lanterns lit up from approximately 6pm until 9.30pm.
There is no pre-booking for Light Up Nights. Children go free, but we ask all adult visitors for an ‘entrance donation’ on the door. We recommend a contribution of between £3-5 per adult. We can accept payments by cash or card.
If you would like to carve a pumpkin lantern during the ‘Community Pumpkin-carving Weekend’, here’s what you need to know:
- Pumpkin-carving sessions are open to everyone – adults, young people, and children of all ages. Children must be accompanied by a parent or carer at all times.
- We provide the pumpkins and all the tools and equipment and we ask everyone for a donation to help us cover the costs. We recommend £3-5 per participant.
- We do not take bookings for the carving sessions – they are ‘first come, first served’. Please be aware that this means you will have to queue to take part, as everyone who wants to carve a pumpkin has to sign up on the day to be able to join in a session.
- *Please note, on Sunday 26 October, the queue for signing up for the final carving sessions of the weekend closes at 3pm promptly. We cannot provide carving sessions for anyone after this time.
- *There is no entrance for the public to the Garden from 3pm on Sunday 26 October. If you are still carving a pumpkin with us at that time, you will be able to continue to do so until 4pm at the latest. After that time, the Garden closes to everyone to allow our team to prepare the space for the Carvers Preview Light up night, which begins at 6.30pm.
- All of the carved pumpkins remain at the Garden to be lit up nightly for the duration of the Lantern Festival. We are unable to offer space or resources for people to carve their own pumpkin to take home, so please bear this in mind before you join in one of our carving sessions.
- Our hard-working team of volunteers will be here to help children and families and anyone else who needs assistance with carving, although as a safety requirement parents and carers still need to remain with their children at all times during pumpkin-carving.
- Everyone who carves a lantern with us during the ‘Community Pumpkin-carving Weekend’ will be invited back to our special ‘Carvers’ Preview Light Up Night’ on Sunday 26 October.
If you would like to come along to one of our daily ‘Light Up Nights’, here’s what you need to know:
- On Light Up Nights we will be asking all visitors to contribute an ‘entrance donation’. We recommend a donation of between £3-5 per adult, but leave the amount up to you. We can accept donations by cash or card. Your contribution is essential to help the Garden cover the substantial costs of the Pumpkin Lantern Festival.
- We do not take bookings on Light Up Nights and you will probably have to queue for entry into the Garden.
- The pumpkins will be lit up from 6pm daily. As there are hundreds of lanterns for our volunteer team to light up every night, please note this timing is approximate! The pumpkins are lit up until 9.30pm.
- If you are bringing children we recommend that you come between 6pm-8pm. If you are visiting without children, we recommend that you come between 8pm-9.30pm.
- Light Up Nights are usually very busy, with limited table space, so we ask visitors not to bring picnics and takeaway food.
Our team of dedicated volunteers are essential to the success of the Dalston Pumpkin Lantern Festival. If you would like to be involved in helping with this much-loved community event please email us at info@dalstongarden.org and we will let you know how you can get involved.
We look forward to welcoming you to this year’s Dalston Pumpkin Lantern Festival.
