Oak Bay Village Setting Up for Spooky Halloween Fun
Second Annual Pumpkin Art on the Avenue Expands
October 16, 2012: Oak Bay Village is becoming a haunted
village for Halloween! Setup is underway for the second annual Pumpkin Art on
the Avenue, featuring hundreds of carved pumpkins, a pumpkin carving contest
and a Halloween Trick or Treat. Pumpkin Art on the Avenue runs October 26 to 31
throughout Oak Bay Village.
The Pumpkin Art display, featuring several hundred
pumpkins carved by John Vickers, is located behind the Oak Bay Municipal Hall
(2167 Oak Bay Avenue) and is open from 5pm to 9pm. Admission is by donation to
the Canadian Cancer Society. Favourite displays including The Beatles, the
Royal Family and others will return along with some new carvings.
Leading up to Halloween, pumpkins will be hung from
lampposts along Oak Bay Avenue in the same way hanging flower baskets brighten
the street during the summer. Pumpkins
will adorn 20 poles along the Avenue this year and will expand each year as
more pumpkins are carved.
For the first time Oak Bay Village businesses are taking
up the carving challenge. Oak Bay Village businesses are competing against one
another in a pumpkin-carving contest. Carved pumpkins will be displayed in
business windows from October 24 to October 31. Oak Bay Village visitors can
use their smart phone to vote for their favourite pumpkin window using the QR
code on the poster or by visiting www.visitoakbayvillage.ca.
Every vote is an entry to win a gift basket from Oak Bay Village stores.
Oak Bay Village businesses will host a trick or treat
from 2 pm to 5 pm on Wednesday, October 31. Participating businesses are
identified by a pumpkin poster in their window. Trick or treat is followed by a
Bonfire in Fireman's Park, 1703 Monterey (next to the fire hall) at 6:00 p.m.
Pumpkin Art began in 1998 when John Vickers staged it on
the front lawn of his Fairfield home. Pumpkin Art continued to grow, drawing
upwards of 25,000 visitors when it was held on the grounds of Government House
from 2003 to 2006. The display has moved a few times since then, including
touring Vancouver Island and spending two years at the Victoria Truth Centre on
Fort Street before coming to a permanent home in Oak Bay Village in 2011.
The businesses in Oak Bay Village host a variety of
community events through the year including the Oak Bay Summer markets, the Oak
Bay Christmas Light Up, Pumpkin Art on the Avenue and a Halloween Trick or
Treat. Information about Oak Bay Village is at www.visitoakbayvillage.ca.
