Budget crunch forces city of Calabasas to cut funding to Pumpkin Festival, Chamber renames the annual event

By Michael Picarella Acorn Staff Writer

The 12th annual Calabasas Pumpkin Festival has been renamed the California Pumpkin Festival. It’s scheduled for Sat. and Sun., Oct. 18 and 19 at Paramount Ranch off Kanan Road, south of the 101 Freeway in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The city of Calabasas has withdrawn its usual contribution to the Pumpkin Festival due to financial issues, but Calabasas Chamber of Commerce chairman Lilianne Chaumont said this year’s festival would be the best ever. The Calabasas Chamber of Commerce hosts the festival.

"It will still be known as the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival, but we are trying to integrate into the ‘California Pumpkin Festival’ because, much to our pleasure, the event has really taken on a regional flavor," Chaumont said. "We really have regional participation. Much in the same way that the Oxnard Strawberry Festival has transitioned into the California Strawberry Festival, we are in that stage of transition ourselves."

Chaumont said the chamber views the name conversion as a positive move but added that the festival will still remain a Calabasas experience. Calabasas, according to historians, comes from the Spanish word "calabaza" meaning pumpkin, squash or gourd.

Attendance at the festival increases every year, Chaumont said.

For those who’ve never attended, expect lots of food, shopping opportunities, games, contests, arts and crafts, live music, shows, and of course, the traditional 30 tons of pumpkins.

This year, Chaumont said, there will be more activities for teenagers.

"I think the thing we’re most excited about this coming year is that we’re really focusing on the entire family," Chaumont said. "We’ve always had a lot of things for the young kids and the older ‘pumpkins,’ as we refer to them, but this year we’re really going to be bringing in some things for the teens."

Chaumont said she couldn’t disclose more because details weren’t completed with the National Park Service, the agency that oversees Paramount Ranch.

"We really want the whole family to come out," Chaumont said. "That’s the theme this year—‘It’s a Family Affair.’"

Chaumont said previous Pumpkin Festivals didn’t have themes, but added that organizers wanted one for this year.

Other new features this year will include a pancake and sausage breakfast on Sunday and an expanded food court.

Admission prices haven’t been determined yet. Many charity groups, as usual, will benefit from the proceeds, according to Chaumont.

"A significant percentage of the profits from the festival are distributed to local charities," Chaumont said. "Everybody that you encounter at the festival is working as a volunteer, other than the vendors. We can’t do the festival without them. They donate their time to a particular charity and then that charity receives a check for the number of hours that these people work."

For more information about the Pumpkin Festival, log onto the Internet and go to www.pumpkin-festival.com.