Chicago Botanic Garden's 'Night of 1,000 Jack-o-Lanterns' returns

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — For those who have neither the time nor the talent to carve their own Halloween pumpkins, the Chicago Botanic Garden is getting ready to show off this year’s crop.

Associate Vice President Jodi Zombolo said this will be the eighth year for the Night of 1,000 Jack-o-Lanterns at the garden in north suburban Glencoe.

“You will never see the same thing twice when you come year-to-year, and there’s about eight different sections with all different types of fun things,” Zombolo said.

This year’s display will have about 80 large pumpkins in themes of favorite album covers, haunted local tales and more.

Zombolo said those jack-o-lanterns, which can weigh up to 150 pounds, will be created by pros while volunteers will carve hundreds of others. She did share some tips, though, for those who may leave the botanic garden feeling inspired.

“You should cut the pumpkin from the bottom, and if you clean it out really well — and scrape all the seeds out and all of that gunk — the critters will not eat it,” she said.

The garden estimates each giant gourd takes 10 – 20 hours of carving and painting.

Tickets are on sale now for the event, which attracts about 45,000 visitors over the 10 nights.

It runs Wednesday through Sunday nights starting on the 16th and then the following week.

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