One of Dayton’s most beloved fall traditions returns tonight as the Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow lights up the hill in the Grafton Hill neighborhood with nearly 1,000 intricately carved jack-o’-lanterns. The free event runs Monday, October 26 and Tuesday, October 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. each night, on the hill behind Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church at 500 Belmonte Park North.
This is the 32nd year for the Pumpkin Glow, which has grown from a neighborhood display into a Miami Valley institution that draws families from across the Dayton region. Organizers say close to 1,000 unique pumpkins — and by some counts more than 1,000 — will be glowing on the hillside, each one hand-carved in the days leading up to the show.
The display is built by volunteers in a concentrated week of work. Pumpkin gutting began Thursday, October 22, followed by tracing and carving sessions on Friday and Saturday, with hundreds of pre-printed designs available so that first-time carvers could work alongside experienced artists. Organizers provided the pumpkins, stencils, carving tools and snacks, and every pumpkin carved stays on the grounds through the end of the Glow.
This year’s event also partners with Pink Ribbon Good to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with pink lights featured throughout the display. The Friends of SICSA return as well, with treats benefiting the SICSA Pet Adoption and Wellness Center, and food trucks from across the greater Dayton area will be on site both nights.
Stoddard Avenue is closed to traffic during the event and open to pedestrians, making the walk up the glowing hill the centerpiece of the evening. Parking is available at the Dayton Art Institute, the Dayton Masonic Center and throughout the surrounding neighborhood, and no ticket is needed — visitors simply show up and walk through.
For Grafton Hill residents, the two nights are both a showcase and a reunion: a historic neighborhood a short walk from downtown Dayton fills with families, photographers and neighbors who return year after year. Organizers describe it as a community effort first and a spectacle second — hundreds of volunteers handling the gutting, carving, placement and lighting that make a hillside of pumpkins glow in unison.
Anyone who misses Monday night gets one more chance on Tuesday, October 27, at the same hours. After Tuesday night the pumpkins come down and the hill goes dark for another year, so Dayton families looking for a free, outdoor Halloween outing this week have a narrow window to catch the Glow at its peak.
Photo: F0i, CC BY