Karina Gonzalez
This weekend, Pierce College was proud to welcome back its annual Halloween Harvest Festival.The wildly popular event opened Friday, Sept. 29. It’s located at the corner of De Soto Avenue and Victory Boulevard for the next five weeks and everyone is invited.This year the preparations for the event went according to plan, according to Linda Carberry, the school’s farm center manager.”So far, we’ve only been working with a handful of people, including the students that work here. But we’re right on schedule with everything and we’re very proud of that,” said Carberry.Many new features have been added to this year’s festival, as well as some old favorites, like Spookley the square pumpkin and his friend Jack the scarecrow, both at the all-new Holiday Hill Farms’ stage show. The farm-grown pumpkins are another popular aspect of the festival and are always ready to be picked up and taken home. The festival also promises to have a slightly more sinister persona than the previous years, as the new FrightFair Scream Park comes to life. It features both the ‘Factory of Nightmares’ haunted house, as well as the ‘Creatures of the Corn’ haunted trail.Another new, exciting feature in this year’s festival is the ‘Get lost in our five-acre Adventure’ Corn Maze. There will also be plenty of kids’ activities happening during the day, such as the petting zoo featuring the farm’s ponies, donkeys, sheep and goats. Plus, there are hay rides, bungee bouncing and other exciting games for older kids.For adults, there will be a range of activities such as group sales, class field trips, parties and corporate teambuilding activities. There will also be a wide variety of food for sale throughout the days. These are yet to be announced and the food offerings are more likely to change throughout the event.The hours of the event are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. The festival will be closed on Mondays however, as well as a few other days during the week. For updates or information, visit the Web site: www.halloweenharvestfestival.comAdmission for the festival is $4. Children under 3 years old get in free.The Halloween Harvest Festival is sponsored by the Foundation for Pierce College. All proceeds will benefit the Agricultural Education Center.People coming to the event using the Metro Orange Line can get off directly in front of The Halloween Harvest Festival, at the De Soto Avenue Metro stop. If you bring your MTA bus ticket, you will receive free admission to the event (ticket only valid for festival entry on the day it was issued).
The Halloween Harvest Festival at Pierce College6498 De Soto Ave. (at Victory Boulevard)