Pumpkin Art, a popular Halloween fundraiser well-known in the Capital Region from its previous showings at Government House, is being presented in James Bay this October as part of a wider tour across Vancouver Island.

Billed as North America’s largest display of intricately carved pumpkins, Pumpkin Art is an exhibit of over 600 pumpkin carvings presented in more than 40 lit, themed displays featuring the likes of local celebrities, cartoon characters, TV shows and the royal family.

Pumpkin Artist and James Bay resident John Vickers says he is excited to be bringing the display back to Victoria.

“We had almost 30,000 people a year visit the event annually at Government House and I was inundated with messages from the public expressing their disappointment that the event got cancelled in 2007”.

Pumpkin Art will appear at the Ogden Point Cruise Ship Terminal Building off Dallas Road. The event runs daily from 1pm to 9pm starting Wednesday, October 29th through Sunday, November 2nd.

Admission is $5.00 for adults, $2.00 for children 12 and under and a family rate of $10.00. Vickers plans to donate a portion of proceeds to UNICEF’s Unite for Children, Unite Against Aids campaign.

The Ogden Point display will be the concluding event of a five city, five weekend tour of Pumpkin Art. Vickers and two management consultant friends will be leaving their professional careers for the month of October to present the pumpkins in Courtenay, Nanaimo, Duncan and Bear Mountain before arriving in James Bay.

The exhibit now involves the use of over 1,000 milk cases along with hundreds of yards of lighting strands.

“It’s a bit like being the road crew for a rock band”, says Vickers, adding “the difference being instead of the band taking the stage at show time, we flip a switch and the pumpkins are front and centre”.

Vickers Pumpkin Art began as a front yard UNICEF fundraiser in 1998 in Fairfield. In 2001, the display was presented in New York City in support of fire fighters in the month following 911. In 2002, Pumpkin Art was presented at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto on behalf of UNICEF Canada.

Further information is available on Pumpkin Art tour website at www.pumpkinart.ca