'The Virginian' Corrigan launches seventh pumpkin festival

London-based Ballivor native chef, Richard Corrigan, who has just bought the Park Hotel in Virginia, launched of the seventh international Virginia Pumpkin Festival last week.
The festival takes place from 25th to 30th October and offers six days and nights of spooky fun and entertainment for all the family.
The Park Hotel is set on 93 acres and Corrigan plans to grow vegetables and rear traditional breeds of pig and chicken to supply his restaurants in London. It will also be the venue for the first event of the Pumpkin Festival on Friday evening with a ‘haunted forest walk’, with a new start at the lake beside Virginia College, it will taking the petrified walkers  through the naturally spooky Deepak Woods to arrive at the hotel for a BBQ and bonfire.  The organisers expect over ten thousand to attend the festival over the course of the October bank holiday weekend. 
As well as the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-in that attracts pumpkins weighing from 500lbs to 1,000lbs, for the first time ever a new competition has been introduced called ‘All Things Pumpkin’.  The organisers are inviting pumpkin growers to showcase their pumpkins, no matter what size, and are looking for a perfect pumpkin in shape and colour. Those who are not the green-fingered type are also accommodated with a “Pumpkin Pie” competition or you can make a pumpkin out of recycled material and bring it along on Sunday 27th October to be in with a chance of winning a prize fund of €1,300. 
The festival kicks off on the Friday evening at 6.30pm with a Haunted Forest Walk and later that night the pumpkin dome will be transformed to host iRadio’s Smashing Pumpkins headlining ‘Earthquake’ with Fergal Darcy who performed at this year’s Oxygen Music Festival.  On Saturday morning for the first time there will be a Festival 5k Fun Run in aid of charity starting at 11am.   The ever popular all day Artisan Food and Craft Fair will again be held in the church grounds, a Children’s Fancy Dress Party will be hosted in the Pumpkin Dome and a Walking Treasure Hunt of Virginia will start at 2pm.  To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Virginia College there will be a special Gathering for all who attended the School from 1962 to 2013.
On Sunday, Virginia will be closed to traffic to accommodate the all-day street entertainment, and Ireland’s largest Fancy Dress Party will take place in the Pumpkin Dome with over 2,000 party goers expected to attend, and events continue through until Wednesday. Full details of all events at this year’s Virginia Pumpkin Festival can be found on www.pumpkinfestival.ie  or on facebook - http://www.facebook.com/VirginiaPumpkinFestival