It's official: Laconia will host this year's pumpkin festival

Laconia will host the 25th annual Pumpkin Festival this year after Keene officials denied a permit following last year's riots on the same weekend.

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Organizers announced the new location Friday afternoon, setting a date of Oct. 24.

"Twenty-two days ago, we didn't know what we were going to do," said Ruth Sterling of Let it Shine, the group that organizes the festival. "Then, the miracle happened of Charlie St. Clair saying, 'Why don't you come and talk to Laconia?'"

St. Clair, of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, got on the phone after Keene officially gave up on the festival three weeks ago.

"That's when it became a thought to me that if they were going to walk away from it in Keene, there certainly would be other cities and communities that would welcome it," St. Clair said.

"To start off our tourism season with Motorcycle Week and then end it with a Pumpkin Festival before ski season starts -- it's just amazing," said Karmen Gifford of the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce. "It's a wonderful opportunity."

While Laconia hasn't held a vote on the matter, the festival already has the full support of the mayor and City Council.

"Our attitude in Laconia is not, 'We'll see,'" Mayor Ed Engler said. "Our attitude toward this event is going to be, 'Will do.'"

Riots near the Keene State College campus marred last year's festival. Officials said they don't expect that mayhem to follow the event to Laconia, but if there's trouble, they said they'll be ready.

"We've partnered with the state for Motorcycle Week for over 90 years," City Manager Scott Myers said. "That's a 10-day event bringing hundreds of thousands of people. This, for a one-day event, we feel very confident we can put together a public safety program that will take care of all the needs of the visitors."

Some downtown business owners said they're eager to capitalize on what has traditionally been one of New Hampshire's biggest events.

"We're looking forward to making some pumpkin burritos," said Reuben Bassett, owner of Burrito Me.

Bassett said people are already buzzing about setting new pumpkin world records in the Lakes Region.

"Obviously on Facebook, you can find some negative comments, but I have yet to talk to someone face-to-face who doesn't think that it's a good thing and isn't excited about it," he said.