Haunted Pumpkin Garden at NYBG offers Spooky Nighttime Adventures
The New York Botanical Garden, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx (easily accessible via Metro-North)
Tuesday – Sunday through October 31 (special events October 18-19, 24-26, 31), $20
718-817-8700
www.nybg.org
The Haunted Pumpkin Garden opened last month at the New York Botanical Garden, featuring a vast array of pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and sizes. Continuing through All Hallow’s Eve, the display is accompanied by daily family-friendly activities in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, including interactive puppet shows, a pumpkin sprouting demonstration, a scavenger hunt, and parades (Tuesday – Friday, 1:30 – 5:30; Saturday & Sunday, 10:00 am – 5:30 pm). On October 18-19 and 25-26, there will also be a Creepy Creatures of Halloween picnic with live animals (12 noon & 2:00). On October 18 & 25, children (recommended eight and up) can participate in a Budding Masters Creepy Pumpkin Carving Adventure ($50, 10:00), while Spooky Nighttime Adventures take place October 18, 24-25, and 31 ($20, 6:30 & 7:15) with programs geared for children four to twelve; flashlights will be supplied as families encounter ghost stories at the Wild Wetland Trail gazebo, make trick-or-treat bags (and go trick-or-treating), decorate gourds, carve pumpkins, dissect owl pellets, and more. On October 18-19, pumpkin carver extraordinaire Ray Villafane will give demonstrations (10:00 am – 6:00 pm) and take part in Q&As with growers (12 noon – 4:00), while the giant pumpkins will make their way into the garden October 25-26.