If you’re a New Yorker, you had to have heard of the Great Jack O’lantern Blaze by now. And if you haven't then you need 1) read this post in full then 2) make it part of your fall itinerary!
Here's the short summary- Every year at Van Cortlandt Manor, volunteers help scoop, carve, and light over thousands of pumpkins. They are then carved into spooky designs by professional artists, and arranged into fantastical sculptures. Some move around (the carousel), some perform light shows. Some are just BIG (a 25 foot tall Statue of Liberty.) In a word, it's awesome.
I’ve been dying to go for years, ever since I saw a writeup about it in Time Out NY. Last year I finally scored tickets, but sadly something came up. We ended up not being able to make it and it broke my heart a little bit. This year I knew the ropes, picked dates, booked the tickets and was determined to make it work. Then it turned out we had to fly across the country the next day 🤦♀️
We’re lazy travelers, so we usually end up packing at midnight the night before a trip, so it was a little stressful getting everything together in the daytime, then driving up to the Blaze at night. We thought about scrapping the event AGAIN for the second year in a row, but the thought of doing that just made me sad. So we ended up pulling it together and going. And I’m sooooo glad we did!
So I decided to do a little writeup of my experience, as well as put together a list of tips for anyone interested in going! Read on to find out more...
