Barrhead Community Pumpkin Walk on hold until 2021

Much to the regret of its organizers, the 2020 Barrhead Community Pumpkin Walk has been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing financial impact on the event’s donors.

The Pumpkin Walk is an annual tradition in Barrhead consisting of a nighttime walk along a path of jack o’lanterns carved by local children. Literally thousands of people turn out for the event each year, not just from Barrhead but surrounding communities.

On Oct. 1, the organizers of the Barrhead Pumpkin Walk posted to their Facebook Page that the event was being called off this year with hopes of returning in 2021.

“After months of due diligence and pending planning for the annual pumpkin walk, and in consultation with public health officials, the Committee, and the general public, we’ve come to the difficult but necessary conclusion that we must cancel the event this year,” the post read.

In a phone interview on Oct. 9, organizer Amanda Lambert explained that Alberta Health Services (AHS) wanted the event limited to 100 people at a time in keeping with public health restrictions.

“Well, with the volunteers that we would need and the vendors and the organizers themselves, we’re almost at that … 100-person mark,” she said.

The alternative was to introduce time slots and have people book times to go through the Pumpkin Walk in groups of about 15.

“Usually, we have 3,200 to 4,000 people, and there’s just no way to regulate that many people,” Lambert said, adding that a lot of people “aren’t on board” with the public health restrictions and would just drop in anyway.

Lambert then pointed out that the fine for contravening public health restrictions could be as high as $200,000. “There’s no way the Pumpkin Walk can sustain that kind of a fine,” she said.

Besides the difficulties in co-ordinating thousands of visitors, Lambert pointed out that the Pumpkin Walk can cost anywhere between $10,000 to $15,000 to organize during a normal year.

She said she had surveyed their usual donors and only a small percentage of them were willing to donate towards the event this year, as they are taking a financial hit amidst the pandemic.

Lambert acknowledges that a lot of families will be upset by the cancellation of the Pumpkin Walk, but there was nothing else that organizers could do.

“It’s a good event, and hopefully we can kind of get this COVID thing under control and come back bigger and better next year. That’s the plan, anyway,” she said.

Kevin Berger, TownandCountryToday.com