Local librarian Lise Kreps has a post-Halloween vision - neighbours gathering to see countless glowing jack-o-lanterns lighting up the dark in Confederation Park.
Kreps is organizing Burnaby's first pumpkin parade on Nov. 1, and she's hoping people will bring their carved pumpkins.
"Each one is like a little lantern," she told the NOW. "Some of them are very simple, and some of them are very incredible, artistic and amazing. It's just fun to see them all in one place."
The idea is simple: Save your jack-o-lantern, bring it to the park, light the candle and line it up with the many others on display. Then peruse the glowing path and check out other people's carving skills. Afterwards, all of the pumpkins will be composted.
Kreps got the idea while listening to a radio piece about a similar parade in Toronto. Every year, neighbours line up their lit jack-o-lanterns and gather in the park in Toronto's Sorauren Park. The event began years ago with roughly 120 pumpkins but now boasts close to 2,000.
Kreps wanted to organize something similar here in Burnaby.
"I have been taking my daughter trick-or-treating for years in the Capitol Hill-Burnaby Heights neighbourhood. I saw so many amazing jack-o-lanterns, from charming to funny to incredibly artistic," she said. "I thought would it be great to see them all lined up in one place for everyone to enjoy."
Kreps contacted the volunteers behind Toronto's event for tips on how to organize her own pumpkin parade. She then coordinated with the City of Burnaby and secured a grant from the Vancouver Foundation and Burnaby Neighbourhood House. The Heights Merchants and neighbourhood associations have also been helping her promote the event.
The city threw in a composting bin, so all the jack-o-lanterns stay out of the landfill.
"They were really nice about it, they agreed to wave their fee for it. The City of Burnaby and engineering have been incredibly helpful," Kreps said.
The funding she got was from the neighbourhood small grant program, which is designed to bring neighbours closer together, and Kreps thinks her event will do just that.
"We get to meet each other there, and we get to see what each other is doing. It's something anybody can participate in, of any age and any artistic ability," she said.
Kreps hopes to host more pumpkin parades in the future.
"I'm really hoping this will become a tradition, as it has in Toronto, and it will grow every year," she said. "I think we have a really great community here to support this. ... It has the potential to take off."
Burnaby's first ever pumpkin parade runs on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the corner of Willingdon Avenue and Albert Street, in the lot where the Burnaby Heights Resource Centre used to be. Look for the sign that says pumpkin parade. For more info, go to www.facebook.com/heightspumpkinparade.
