Pumpkinville fall festival returns to downtown OKC for 10th year: What you need to know

Oklahomans can travel to China, Kenya, Italy, Mexico, Egypt, Brazil and across the United States without ever leaving downtown OKC this October.

The Pumpkinville fall festival is back in the Myriad Botanical Gardens through Oct. 22, and this year's theme for the popular autumnal event is "Greetings from Pumpkinville."

"It's a nod to those old retro postcards that'd be ... 'Greetings from Rio de Janeiro,' and they'd use all the pictures of the location in the letters in the name of the location. We've picked a bunch of different places from around the world, and we're doing some nods to them in a lot of different ways," said Emmy French, the Myriad Gardens' public events manager.

What can visitors find in Pumpkinville this year?

Named Best Pumpkin Patch in a 2022 USA Today poll, Pumpkinville celebrates the season with autumnal games, activities, crafts, unlimited rides on Mo's Carousel and creative displays crafted from haybales, mums, cornstalks, gourds and 30,000 pumpkins.

"This is our 10th anniversary of Pumpkinville, so we're really excited. ... We always try to make it new every year, so we have new murals, new activities, new decorations and themes," said Maureen Heffernan, president and CEO of the Myriad Gardens Foundation.

"We're thrilled how the public embraces this, and in many families, it's a tradition. They've been coming every year."

Several Oklahoma artists and Myriad Gardens staffers worked to create displays to help visitors "see the world in pumpkins" this year, she said.

How does Pumpkinville raise money to keep the Myriad Gardens free the rest of the year?

Along with a "charming, wonderful celebration of fall and all things pumpkin," Pumpkinville is the biggest fundraiser of the year and a membership drive for the Myriad Gardens Foundation.

Admissions and memberships sold during the family-friendly fall fest help to keep the outdoor gardens, including the popular Children's Garden, free to the public the rest of the year and enable the nonprofit foundation to offer free and low-cost year-round programming.

General admission tickets are $9 per person for Pumpkinville visitors ages 3 and older. Myriad Gardens members and children 2 and younger are admitted free.

Pumpkinville hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Oct. 22. For more information, go to www.myriadgardens.org/pumpkinville.

Here are six highlights of this year's Pumpkinville:

1. Signature pumpkin murals transport visitors

Over the past decade, mosaic murals that create colorful scenes out of a variety of pumpkins, mini pumpkins and gourds have become a Pumpkinville signature. Bringing the travelogue theme to life, this year's pumpkin murals transport visitors across the globe.

Nate Tschaenn, the Myriad Gardens' horticulture director and mural mastermind, clearly embraced the vintage postcard theme with his show-stopping Oklahoma Route 66 mosaic. He also crafted murals of a toucan for Brazil, a koi for China and a canal for Venice.

Lisa Quisenberry's giraffe mural is a showpiece of the event's Kenya section, and she also created the sunflower mosaic near the Pumpkinville entrance.

2. Pumpkinville pays tribute to the Day of the Dead

For the past few years, the pumpkin mural mania has been supersized with the addition of a massive artwork designed to cover the entire surface of the Myriad Gardens Water Stage. This year, Oklahoma City artist Tank Ramirez pays tribute to the Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, with a huge painting of a teal and orange sugar skull punctuated with an array of white and orange pumpkins.

Growing awareness of the holiday can be found throughout the Mexico section of Pumpkinville. A towering La Calavera Catrina – or "elegant skull" figure – created by OKC artist Paul Bagley rises out of a large raised garden bed, while a sample ofrenda, or traditional Day of the Dead altar, is tucked into a shady corner.

Tschaenn's monarch wall sculpture is a nod to the migrating butterflies that can be found flittering around.

3. Pumpkinville is practically a zoo this year

Pumpkinville apparently brings out the animal in some artists, as the festival is practically a zoo this year. All sorts of critters are tucked in among the decor, from the charming African wildlife cutouts in the Kenyan maze to the sheep sculptures made of white mini pumpkins in the American area near the Children's Garden entrance.

In the Chinese section, Clarissa Sharp's yellow fabric mural enveloping the tree house features a fierce lion guardian, while a whimsical trio of rain forest creatures — an anteater, capybara and sloth — have taken up temporary residence in the Brazilian area. The three sculptures are a collaboration between artist Lynn Pollei, who created their faces, and Myriad Gardens Conservatory Manager Roberta Rowland, who crafted their vegetative bodies.

There's even a giant green anaconda draped over the "Philodendron Dome" metal sculpture; thankfully, it's just a work of art.

4. A hidden pathway leads to a pumpkin pyramid

The outdoor gardens boast all kinds of interesting twists and turns, and if you follow one of them during Pumpkinville, it will lead you to an Egyptian alcove complete with a big pumpkin pyramid, hieroglyphics and mummy selfie stations.

5. Pumpkin painting, face painting and more fun are available for an upcharge

For an extra charge, Pumpkinville attendees can buy a pumpkin, paint a pumpkin to take home or get their faces painted. Seasonal snacks like kettle corn and maple leaf suckers also are available for purchase.

6. Mo's Carousel remains a classic

Since it debuted in the Myriad Gardens five years ago, Mo's Carousel has become a favorite attraction, and unlimited rides are a definite Pumpkinville perk.

Formerly housed at Crossroads Mall, the classic merry-go-round offers opportunities to take a spin on a dragon, cat, bunny, reindeer, sleigh or a veritable herd of horses. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 6 highlights of downtown OKC's Pumpkinville festival in Myriad Gardens