The Volunteer Park Conservatory has scared up a new tradition to add to the annual Hilloween celebration. A day after the Sunday, October 28th Hilloween carnival in Cal Anderson, Volunteer Park will be (yay, we get to use the word again!) festooned with carved pumpkins. Even better news: You can win a prize for your gourd carving skills. Details on the contest and some special Halloween fun planned for the Conservatory, below. Note: Make sure not to mix up your entries for this and the annual Babeland Sexy Jack-O-Lantern contest. 

Pumpkin carving contest at the Volunteer Park Conservatory!
Best pumpkins, due 10/29, will festoon the Haunted Conservatory Open House on 10/31

Get in the mood for Halloween at the Volunteer Park Conservatory! Bring your best carved pumpkin to the Conservatory, 1400 E Galer St., between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Monday, October 29.

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Friends of the Conservatory and Parks staff will choose the best of the best and put them on display in the Conservatory, where they will set the scene for the Haunted Conservatory Open House, which takes place from 5 to 8 p.m. on Halloween, Wednesday, October 31. The Open House will feature treats and hot cider, a screening of the video Little Shop of Horrors, and Madame Pomegranate telling fortunes.

Drop pumpkins off inside the Conservatory front entry, and please put your name and contact information inside or on the pumpkin so we can let you know if you win a prize. Please do not add candles or other lights; the staff will take care of that.

Pumpkins not chosen for display will still play an important part in the festivities – as part of the Spooky Pumpkin Graveyard outside the Conservatory. All materials submitted become property of the Conservatory; sorry we can’t return pumpkins or other decorations.

The Volunteer Park Conservatory, a Victorian greenhouse modeled on London’s Crystal Palace, was built in 1912 to propagate and grow flowers and other plants for public display. Since then it has evolved to include five “houses,” each with a specialty collection: The Bromeliad House, the Palm House, the Fern House, the Cactus House, and the Seasonal Display House, which changes seasonally to provide year-round horticultural presentations.

The nonprofit Friends of the Conservatory assists with building conservation, provides docents, hosts special functions and provides support with financial resources from plant sales.