Your guide to The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in Westchester
Friday the 13th this year will mark the unofficial start of spooky season in Westchester and the Hudson Valley with the opening of the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze.
The 20th anniversary celebration, made up of thousands of intricately carved Jack-o-lantern displays, runs through November. Read on for your guide to one of Westchester's most wondrous and whimsical Halloween attractions.
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Is the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze worth it?
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze starts Friday and runs through November. Tickets sell out fast, so be sure to snag yours for the time you want. As of Sept. 12, tickets were listed as "limited" availability for Sept. 13, 14, 15, 20 and 21.
There are different levels of tickets to choose from so you can customize your Blaze experience.
Standard admission online tickets start at $20 for adults and $20 for children (ages 3-17). Children under 2 years old get in free, and so do Historic Hudson Valley members. Standard tickets require you to choose a date and time.
Flex time tickets allow you to visit on any day, at any time, and include a drink and snack from Cafe Blaze. These tickets start at $129.
Standard Blaze plus Gourd & Goblet combo tickets start at $55 for adults. Historic Hudson Valley members can attend for free.
The best value, according to The Blaze website, are the special $20 passes, which allow for admission after 8 p.m. for only $20 in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Hudson Valley Blaze.
See available dates and times, and buy your tickets online at hudsonvalley.org or pumpkinblaze.org.
Where does the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze take place?
The Hudson Valley Blaze is at the historic Van Cortlandt Manor (525 S. Riverside Ave., Croton-On-Hudson).
There is a second Blaze event out on Long Island at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Nassau County. That event starts Oct. 4.
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What is the Gourd & Goblet Tavern?
The Blaze is celebrating 20 years of Halloween fun in the Hudson Valley, and Historic Hudson Valley is going all out with the addition of a few new experiences for attendees. According to spokesman Rob Schweitzer, one in particular "highlights the historic features of Van Cortlandt Manor, Blaze's longtime home."
It's called The Gourd & Goblet Tavern, and its billed as a VIP experience for adults 21 and older. The Gourd & Goblet Tavern at Van Cortlandt Manor gives visitors access to an 18th century-style tavern speakeasy, located at the midway point of the Blaze path.
Enjoy cocktails and food items not available elsewhere at The Blaze. The experience requires a separate ticket and is only available with a corresponding Blaze ticket in the same time slot.
Gourd & Goblet access starts at $55, which includes Blaze admission.
What is the Twilight Village at Sleepy Hollow?
New for 2024 is the Twilight Village at Sleepy Hollow experience, located at Philipsburg Manor, 381 North Broadway in Sleepy Hollow. Here, visitors can stroll through the village and enjoy a night of Halloween fun such as having their fortune read, fall-themed treats and more.
Behind the scenes: Here's how carvers prep thousands of pumpkins every year for Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze
Are The Blaze pumpkins real?
Every year, expert carvers prep thousands of pumpkins for The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in Croton. And yes — many of them are real.
Pumpkins included in the sculptures are a mix of real and fake pumpkins, referred to as "art" and "live" pumpkins. Fake pumpkins are used to reduce the number of pumpkin replacements needed during an event and to allow for more intricate designs with thinner walls
According to the Blaze team's artisans, carvers can average around 35 pumpkins a day per person in a six-hour time frame during the carving phase of Blaze prep.
When it comes to live pumpkins for carving, the team uses howden pumpkins grown by Wallkill View Farms in New Paltz.
Learn more about the process, and pick up some tips for carving your own gourd-geous masterpiece, by reading this story.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: The Blaze opens Sept. 13 in Hudson Valley NY. What you need to know
