Pumpkin party was much enjoyed by local residents who brought up their carved pumpkins to decorate the orchard and took away gleaned pumpkins to cook, inspired by all the different types of pumpkin food on offer. Local band, The Hokum Boys filled the air with lively blues tunes on stage, while Skyhigh Arts captivated attendees with circus skills workshop. The crowd was mesmerized by Tree Stewart’s spellbinding contact juggling, and roving magician Tim Burt kept everyone enchanted with his mind-bending magic tricks before taking to the stage himself for a few songs. In addition, Sarah Taylor led creative pumpkin balloon-making workshops, delighting children with mini pumpkin creations.
The Orchard looked like a giant pumpkin patch with pumpkins everywhere plus pumpkin games, pumpkin crafts and loads of pumpkin food.
As dusk settled in, the orchard transformed into a magical scene, with festoon lights illuminating the trees and glowing pumpkins casting an enchanting glow. Guests were treated to a captivating performance and the beautiful voice of Bailey Tomkinson and her partner Jordan on guitar.
The bar was open serving the Orchard’s apple juice, St Ives Cider and St Ives Brewery beer. Last year’s batch of orchard cider had sold out, but volunteers have already pressed this year’s apples, with help from local cider-makers Chris Parker and his assistant Sam which is now busy fermenting.
A team of volunteers prepared an impressive variety of pumpkin-inspired dishes the day before the event. Thanks to a donation from the St Ives Community Fund, the Core building’s kitchen has almost been completed and provided an ideal space for cooking. Volunteers peeled, chopped, roasted and pureed around five large pumpkins to create an array of delicious dishes, including spicy pumpkin bhajis, pumpkin curry, pumpkin hummus, pumpkin pie, and spicy pumpkin cake. Tretho Lounge also cooked up a big pumpkin soup. So there was plenty of food to serve up at the Pumpkin party. Big thanks to Splattenridden for allowing us to collect all the pumpkins from their patch after Halloween.
This unique annual event first began in 2020, the same year the St Ives Community Foodshare initiative launched. Driven by a goal to reduce food waste, Foodshare volunteers began by collecting surplus food from supermarkets and sharing it with the community, preventing it from ending up in landfills.
This mission expanded to include gathering leftover produce from local farms, with Splattenridden Farm generously allowing volunteers to collect excess vegetables—including plenty of post-Halloween pumpkins. Thus, the first Pumpkin Party was born during the social distancing of Covid-19, where St Ives Community Foodshare encouraged people to bring up their pumpkins to create a spooky, giant pumpkin patch with lots of glowing pumpkins and shared out pumpkin food.
Now a beloved tradition, the Pumpkin Party encourages people to think beyond carving and get creative with pumpkin cooking with this wonderful and very affordable vegetable. At its heart, this celebration brings the community together in a safe, beautiful outdoor space where children can run, families can connect, and everyone can enjoy the simple pleasures of the season.
A big thank you to all the volunteers from the Orchard & Foodshare group for helping to put on this event. There are plenty whole pumpkins left over at the Core and in the orchard, everyone is welcome to go help yourself. Recipies for all the pumpkin dishes can be found on //kevrannastives.co.uk/pumpkinparty2024/
All pumpkins not taken will go into the orchard’s compost bin.
This event was co-hosted by St Ives Community Foodshare who was funded by CCF – Cornwall Community Foundation.
The event was also funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, allowed a full programme of workshops and events up until the end of December. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
