Pumpkin Nights LA 2018 [picture heavy]

 Truly, Halloween is the best season~ For the first time I decided to visit a pumpkin patch/festival. I decided to go to Pumpkin Nights, a seemingly nationwide pumpkin extravaganza hosted in different cities in the US. I was definitely drawn in by it's instagram marketing, I'm a sucker for pretty pictures and good advertising! Pumpkin Nights showcases pumpkins and sets created by local artists, and also hosts food and activities also by local vendors and business'. As I live in SoCal, I went to the one located in LA, situated in Pomona.

[Tickets need to bought beforehand, just a small fyi.]

 The main foyer did look slightly barren and underwhelming, which did give me a moment's doubt if this was the same place as advertised. (My group and I shared some concerned glances amongst each other). After some wandering and eventually turning into a small alleyway people were seeming to ignore and avoid, the true entrance into pumpkin Wonderland was revealed.

The Pumpkin Passage was a great entryway into what reveals itself to be a mysterious and magical pumpkin land. The rows of what could almost pass as infinite floating pumpkins look ethereal and made me feel like I was transported into a Halloween dimension. I've never experienced such a feeling of intense Halloween immersion, even taking into account Disneyland Halloween nights.

I usually feel guilty asking my friends to take photos of me, but I just HAD to have a picture taken in this Halloween heaven. 

Every pumpkin the the passage was unique and it was so fun to look at every pumpkin.
 (I also found my favourite pumpkin~) 

Once though the pumpkin gates, the entrance into the Pumpkin Path opens up. At the start of the path, there is an optional game to play which involves finding the hidden symbols and finding out the Wizard's secret word. The game is open to all ages and was a fun activity to do. It even had our whole group actively searching for every symbol pumpkin and getting quite excited every time we spotted a new one (some were actually hidden in odd areas of the map, at least for us adult height people). I found the symbol pumpkins so pretty, and they came in so many colours, so I loved seeing what the magic pumpkins looked like every time!

The path was separated into themed sections, the first being creatures. The trees had winding gigantic caterpillars hanging off them which glowed wonderfully in the dusk, my favourite one had little bunny ears that looked so precious! There were even giant pumpkin dragonflies hovering around the area.

 There were adorable carnivorous watermelon plants in their own little patch too~

 Also, in one small overlooked area were a pair of tiny pumpkin hedgehogs!
There was so many things to take in, and I'm sure I missed even more little jems.

A creepy corner I quickly bypassed was full of pumpkin arachnids. I found it a bit intimidating and was scared something would start moving, haha...

 Around the next bend in the road, opened up into a sky of floating pumpkins and magical music lilting through the air.

Every pumpkin decorating the area was themed in fitting Harry Potter flair. As the night was growing darker, the candles inside flickered and glowed beautifully enhancing the magical feel. I'm not even a big Harry Potter fan (I just watched the series quite recently;;) but even I was blown away by the aura emitted by this section.

At the end of the Harry Potter section, near what I think is a version of Hagrid's home? was a real owl!! It was so pretty and it's caretaker was educating everyone on owls and keeping owl habitats intact. It was a nice addition and a wonderful surprise!

 The next segment of the path was decked out in pumpkin Chinese lanterns.

The pond in the area was surrounded by a extremely large serpentine dragon wrapped around the area! It was awesome, especially taking into account the detail and absolute size of the creature! Also, in the pond it was guarding were little pumpkin turtles scattered about.

 ^^ an example of one of the magical pumpkins with a secret symbol

 Approaching a small hill, a large ship could be seen atop it. It looked monsterous, but it couldn't compare to being up close to it.

 Once next to it, towering probably at 30 feet tall a pirate ship rests right in the tree line! Such an impressive size~ and it looked amazing! I thought the cannons made of giant tubs was so inventive!

The Pumpkin pirate's lair was so cool! Also, the addition of the Goonies soundtrack was well appreciated.

The deeper into the pirate cave, the more beautiful it became.

After the cave, the sea floor opened up to a absolutely breathtaking spacious Pumpkin Reef! I think this was the stand out moment in the whole pumpkin experience, at least for me. The lighting, music and theming was absolutely superb, the pictures do it absolutely no justice! Also, the whole place had bubbles dancing through the air adding another layer of fantastic surrealness to the grotto.

At the end of the Pumpkin Reef was a wonderful Pumpkin-octopus sculpture guarding it's treasure. Really, the whole sea themed area was so wondrous that made the whole trip worth it! It could just be that section and I would feel completely satisfied!

The following section was a rest area that had a theatre that was showing Coco, and also sold popcorn and movie snacks. In addition, there was an awesome play section for kids AND adults. My favourite were the big teeter-totters lined up. They looked so fun and made me regret only owning mini skirts, I really wanted to take a spin!

The last section, celebrated Dia de los Muertos and it was just beautiful! All the coloured pumpkin lanterns and papel picados lining the area were absolutely gorgeous.

The path leading up to the alter was so pretty, as it was lined with candles and flowers! (they also had an area set up with soft box lights and a ring light for great pictures!)

*Also, at the end of the path we encountered the wizard. We whispered the secret word to him and received a small prize for our efforts, it was a perfect end to our time in the Pumpkin Path.*

Upon exiting the main attraction, the once barren area was filled with people eating, drinking and enjoying live shows. We managed to catch the fire dancer's set and were awed and slightly terrified by her prowess with flames. I wish there was better food and drink choices, but I seemed to justify it by guessing this event is still in it's infancy stage. I want to assume as it will grow in popularity, what's offered will definitely improve over time and with continued success (at least I hope). I did happen to try pumpkin lemonade, which was so weird but oddly okay tasting, haha;;

 The path to the exit was also so well themed and wonderfully spooky! A good ending to my first adventure into a pumpkin festival!

With this, I hope you were able to enjoy this adventure alongside me~ 

Also, as it's currently the 28th may your Halloween weekend be perfectly spooky!

(Though, I will extend my halloween festivities on my blog to next weekend! Saving the best adventure for last.) Mwuahahahahaha!

<3CarisseIris

Imagination Unlimited~ The Jim Henson Exhibit

The Skirball Cultural Center in LA has been hosting a fun new exhibit this summer centering around the works of Jim Henson! A small fact about me is that I absolutely adore puppeteering/muppets! (I may have a custom muppet in my ownership and created my own a few years ago;;) So, hearing that this exhibit is showcasing near to me, I had to see it in person before it moves somewhere else.

The Jim Henson Exhibit condenses and showcases Jim Henson's Work and process of creation from the start of his career, and though different chapters of his life. On display are diagrams, sketches by Jim Henson and his creative crew, muppets and various props from multiple Jim Henson properties.

To greet those at the entrance is the actual and iconic Kermit the Frog. I was already emotional knowing that I would see these muppets in person, so embarrassingly I did tear up slightly encountering Kermit. There’s something quite precious meeting these creatures that played such a big part in my childhood. Moving on to the next section, Sesame St., was even more amazing!

Encountering the Sesame St. muppets and taking a peek into their creation was wonderful! Seeing how something so simple like ping pong balls and felt could create such memorable-lifelike  childhood friends just awed me. I could almost believe that magic exists and that these puppets could come to life at any moment!

 

The Slimey the Worm set up genuinely surprised me at the sheer size of the sets the little worm used, also at the actual size of the worms~ I asked my puppeteer friend who accompanied me to help show the true scale!

The next section of the exhibit is devoted to The Muppet Show~ It housed some of my favorite muppets like Scooter, Beaker, and Dr. Bunson! Not to be a broken record, but it was absolutely wonderful to meet them in person! Again, I couldn’t believe how simply they were composed but how effectively they sell sentience!

Something absolutely wonderful to see in person was Miss Piggy’s iconic gloves! Also seeing some of Miss Piggy’s props which I wish to own for myself~ Fun Fact; Frank Oz, the voice of Miss Piggy is also the voice of Sam Eagle, Animal, Cookie Monster, and Fozzy Bear.

The final section of the Exhibit covers other properties created by The Jim Henson Company. Titles with creatures and props featured are; Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and The Muppets 3D.

The Dark crystal had a larger presence of puppets and props displayed, the fabrication of the creatures For the film were very different and amazingly detailed in comparison to Henson’s previous creatures and definitely was wonderful eye candy! There were so many different textures and little intricate features that add to the additional visual depth of each character!

The Skeksis was one of my favorite pieces on display! Even though the Dark Crystal wasn’t one of my favorite films, I have to say that the Skeksis has to be one of the most beautifully crafted creatures!

Sadly, the photos of my favorite film Labyrinth, were corrupted. From Labyrinth, the costumes and mock up of the sets were on display. Seeing how the sets were created and the beautiful layers of the costumes fueled added adoration for this film. It is a bit disheartening to not be able to share more of the Labyrinth displays, but I was lucky enough to salvage the main piece, Sarah’s masquerade ball gown!

Though, the exhibition was a bit small, it was definitely worth visiting! The exhibit seems to be touring worldwide so there is definitely opportunities for those interested to experience it in person!

<3CarisseIris