The Morton Pumpkin Festival is annual four-day festival organized and sponsored by the Morton Chamber of Commerce held in mid-September. The Morton Pumpkin Festival was first held in Morton, Illinois in 1967. The event now draws more than 75,000 attendees annually. In 1978, Governor James R. Thompson declared Morton the “Pumpkin Capital of the World.” Morton's title of "Pumpkin Capital of the World" is tied to the presence of the Nestlé-owned Libby'spumpkin processing plant, which processes more than 80 percent of the world's canned pumpkin. A virtual event will be held in 2020 as many physical ones will get scrapped; COVID-19 pandemic was the cause.
Festival Themes
Each year, the Morton Chamber of Commerce selects a special theme for the Morton Pumpkin Festival. Festival themes are voted on by the general public while taking the annual Pumpkin Festival Survey in September. The top festival theme choices are then taken to the Pumpkin Festival Oversight Committee and the Morton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for the final selection. Themes are announced in January or February during the Morton Chamber of Commerce Annual Meet Up. Many of the Pumpkin Festival events and activities including the parades, pageants, entertainment, competitions, and opening ceremony incorporate costumes, music, and other elements in celebration of the annual theme.
Many attendees of the festival come just for the food, especially the pumpkin flavored food. Beyond the usual fair/carnival favorites and pumpkin pie, some of the other items include pumpkin chili, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin doughnuts, and pumpkin ice cream. The marquee food-related event typically happens on the Saturday morning of the Pumpkin Festival. Saturday morning showcases the all-you-can-eat Pumpkin Pancake breakfast.
Punkin Chuckin'
The Punkin Chuckin' Contest] was a Morton tradition that involved giant contraptions that hurled, catapulted, or shot 5-10 pound pumpkins in the air into an open field. The competition's last year was 2016. Competitors competed for the title of “Punkin' Chucker Supreme” with a one mile goal. The contest was modeled after the contest in Sussex County, Delaware the first weekend after Halloween, but Morton holds the world record for farthest pumpkin thrown. The Punkin Chuckin’ Contest turned out various machines, from trebuchets to air cannons, with one machine holding a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. The Q-36 Pumpkin Modulator is a long air cannon that fired a pumpkin for a world record. The Q-36 has an barrel and a air tank and tips the scale at. A pumpkin leaving the tube flies at nearly but loses velocity quickly. This cannon has been seen on the Late Show with David Letterman as well as another famous device, the Acme Catapult, which saw airtime on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2003.
Performances
Performances in 2019 included: Morton High School, Central Illinois Banjo Club, New Odyssey Guy, Bogside Zukes, Cousin Eddie, Jim Markum Swing Band, and American English.
