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7th Annual October Gourd and Pumpkin Festival Near Fallbrook and Temecula

Editor: Alan Gray, NewsBlaze

Fallbrook CA: The 7th annual October Gourd and Pumpkin Festival is scheduled to take place this Saturday, October 4th, 2008 at the Welburn Gourd Farm, just 16 miles west of Temecula and 12 miles northwest of Fallbrook.

The October Gourd and Pumpkin Festival is the second festival hosted annually by the Welburn Gourd Farm, the first being the Gourd Art Festival, which is held every June and attracts over 7,000 visitors.

"The October festival came about for two reasons," says Festival Director, Vickie Knox. "One was the fact that so many people wanted to attend the June gourd festival and had schedule conflicts so they wanted an alternative show. The second reason was related to Fall being associated with harvest time for gourds."

Harvest time for the Welburn Gourd Farm, which grows organically, is actually in March when the gourds are fully dried, but since the farm grows over 350,000 gourds per year, they are able to have dried gourds for sale year round and plenty (over 100,000) are available for the October event.

The big talk this year is the launch of the 1-week half price sale on gourds, which festival planners scheduled to begin the same day as the October Festival in order to boost show attendance.

"A half-price sale at the farm is a big deal for our customers," says Phoebe Welburn, Marketing Director for both the farm and the two gourd festivals. "Many of them have never been to a gourd festival so having the two coincide was a way to introduce new people to the excitement of a gourd festival."

Along with dried gourds and pumpkins for sale the October Gourd and Pumpkin Festival features exhibitors selling gourd art as well as gourd crafting tools and supplies, over 14 different gourd art classes, tours of the gourd fields from atop beautifully decorated hay wagons pulled by Belgian Draft horses, plus delicious food and beverages.

Most gourd art classes cost between $59 - $69. They are offered the Friday, October 3rd before the festival and Saturday October 4th during the festival. Students must register ahead of time by signing up online at www.GourdFestival.com or calling the Welburn Gourd Farm at 760-728-4271.

Admission and parking are free. Festival hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information on the 7th Annual October Gourd and Pumpkin Festival visit the website at www.gourdfestival.com or call 760-728-4588.

See Also:
Gourd and Arts Festival a Well-Organized, Colorful Event
- read the story and see the videos.