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PUMPKINTOWN 2026 A HUGE SUCCESS!
When the 2026 Friendly City Festivals group held its first Pumpkintown planning session back in June after a successful MooFest, we all agreed on one thing – to make the 24th annual Pumpkintown the best ever! And, after months, weeks and days of planning and an unanticipated change of date due to the weather, we feel our wish came true on Saturday, October 24th.
Picture perfect weather ushed in toe tapping live entertainment on three stages, the beat of Native American drums, the tantalizing smell of festival food, all sorts of tempting items for sale from local businesses and 290 arts, crafts and food vendors plus a record crowd of over 22,000 visitors. So, thanks to the support of our community, sponsors, vendors and visitors, we think Pumpkintown 2026 was a resounding success!
And, that success is due to the support of several community groups that sponsored a variety of activities that make a festival stand out.
Hosted by the McMinn Regional Humane Society, the Mutt Strutt featured over 40 pets in their Halloween finery and 4 dogs were adopted during the Paw Print activity at Fullers Frame Shop.
The McMinn County Living Heritage Museum’s 42nd annual quilt show brought in several visitors to tour the museum and see the colorful array of quilts on display.
Another exciting activity during the day was the dedication of “McMinn Answered The Call” WWII mural sponsored by the Patriot Memorial Project. And TWU welcomed many alumni during their Homecoming 2026 event.
Without a doubt, Pumpkintown’s most beloved part of the festival is the Scott Crisp Memorial PowWow. This year’s record crowd watched as a true intertribal gathering unfolded before their eyes making history and heritage come alive through the trooping of the colors, the blowgun demonstration and the harmony of the flute. My heartfelt thanks to Felicia and Javier Alfaro who have kept the PowWow spirit alive since Scott’s death in 2016 along with Robert Redhawk Eldridge, Sharlene Brooks, Jack Lynn, Joey Pierce and Medicine Scout. We greatly appreciate the commitment and dedication they’ve shown to make this a true memorial to Scott and the centerpiece of Pumpkintown.
A festival of this magnitude doesn’t happen magically, but we do have a group of magicians aka Friendly City Festivals that certainly make it look easy!
Jim Brooks is FCF’s entertainment executive, and we so appreciate his magic touch with booking solid entertainment for the festivals. Special thanks to Joel Webb and Integrity Sound Solutions for managing the sound for three stages.
Thanks go to Darren and Jessica Casteel with East Tennessee Entertainment for all their behind the scenes logistics and can-do attitude. From putting out road banners to remembering all those last-minute details that can make or break an event, we are thankful for their input.
Special thanks to vendor gurus Michael Priest and Brianna Baker. Working and supporting our vendors takes a special kind of festival geek and Michael and Brianna have it down to a science. From reworking the entire vendor map of downtown in coordination with graphics guru Stefani Burchfield, to making off the booth space number AND typing in 330 vendors into an Excel spreadsheet, these three have my heartfelt gratitude. And a huge shout out is in order to my sister-in-law Deb Willson, Ben Burchfield, Michael, Stefani, Brianna with her special guests Harlee and Harper Baker and Darren and Jessica along with Breyer and Brinkley Casteel for all their help during the epic booth space numbering party. Special thanks to Deb Goins for masterminding the way we number the booths!
Checking in over 300 vendors and making sure angst is at a minimum is no easy task and a big shout out to Jonathan Womac, Hugh Willson, Deb Willson, Michael Priest, Joy Early, Jordan Curtis and David Passmore for all their efforts in making check in a breeze.
A big round of applause goes to those whose creative marketing magic produced big city advertising and publicity that rivals any New York ad agency; Leanne Malloy/Athens Web Services for our spiffy updated website; Brianna Baker for keeping us updated on Facebook; Josh Boggess/Boggess Videography and Brant Helms for producing Oscar worthy videos; Stefani Burchfield for the eye catching graphics; and Simon Rhodes, City of Athens Communications Director for multi media promotions. Special thanks to McMinn County Economic Development Authority, The Morning Fax and The Daily Post-Athenian for all the free publicity.
And we want to thank the many other who made this event run smoothly behind the scenes-Rick Clayton along with the McMinn County trustees who picked up/set out tables and chairs under Market Pavilion for the event, Mouse Creek Golf Course for the use of a golf cart for early voting, McMinn County Living Heritage Museum for graciously donating the use of their tables and chairs for the day, Parks and Recreation for the portable electric panels, Pavilion stage and keeping the public bathrooms picked up and Public Works for always going above and beyond with coordinating trash pick up and street closings. And we are so thankful for Grace House for whisking away the tables and chairs after the festival ended.
Anytime a city our size has over 22,000 people come through, parking is invariably an issue. Friendly City Festivals is thankful for the patience and understanding shown by our downtown community, Rusty Rollins/Food City and CVS for this year and year’s past.
Thank you Team Athens aka The City for herculean effort they put into downtown for weeks before and during the festival. Thank you, thank you thank you – all departments did our city proud and please know you are appreciated!
Our sponsors are the ones who make it possible for Friendly City Festivals to present our events free of charge to the public and we are eternally grateful for: The City of Athens Tourism Fund, McMinn County Tourism Board, McMinn County Economic Development Authority, Madison Avenue Pharmacy, Tennessee Overhill Association, Tennessee Arts Commission, DENSO, VEC Customer Shares, Citizens National Bank, Simmons National Bank, Simmons Private Wealth, Mayfield Dairy Farm, Valley Oil, Starr Regional Medical Center, Kona Ice, WarrenJackson CPAs, Athens Kiwanis Club, Athens Insurance, Pendleton’s Playground, Let’s Bounce Rentals, Smile More Orthodontics, East Tennessee Entertainment, The Financial Mart, REMAX Freedom Realty, KARM Stores and River Valley Health.
It’s been a pleasure to chair Pumpkintown for the past 20 years with this exceptional group of volunteers, supporters and community. Stay tuned for more information about our plans for 2027 – Pumpkintown turns 25 and there’s a change coming for Sounds of Summer!
Meredith Willson
President-Friendly City Festivals
Massive tournament underway at Athens Regional Park right now!
Over 30 teams have taken to the finest turf fields around to play ball on this beautiful Sunday.
This tournament is through Tri Star Tournaments and thank you to everyone who has come out to Regional Park.
