While the autumn season might be one of the furthest things from the minds of many locals, members on the Pumpkin Festival Committee are thinking ahead and planning big changes for this year’s annual Pumpkin Festival that include moving the event to an earlier date.

This year, Pumpkin Fest will begin Friday, October 12 and run through Saturday, October 13 – two weeks sooner than the event’s conventional date on the weekend before Halloween. While the change is certainly breaking away from a long-standing tradition in the city, it’s all part of an effort to better the event, increase participation, avoid interference with the high school fall sports playoff schedule, and keep the festival exciting and new, explained members of the Pumpkin Festival Committee.

This fall marks the 14th year that Pumpkin Fest will light up the downtown area, and a new time frame for the event doesn’t mean the end of fun, old customs, noted Pegi LoPresti, Pumpkin Festival coordinator. As always, one of the main spectacles of this year’s pumpkin fest will be the thousands of carved pumpkins atop of scaffolding lining the sidewalks around East and West Parks, live music performance by various artists, dancers, street performers, caricature artists, face painters, balloon artists, crafters, contests and children’s activities.