13 Reasons to Attend the Jack O’Lantern Extravaganza

The pumpkins have arrived!

October 3, 2024

The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium’s Jack O’Lantern Extravaganza is Pittsburgh’s newest and shiniest must-see autumn event. In case you have not made up your mind yet to come to the bright side, we share 13 reasons why you should hop in the car and hit the road, Jack O’Lantern!

It’s art! Each and every jack o’lantern is a hand-carved masterpiece created by our team of pumpkin Picassos. A team of 25 crackerjack carvers worked 1,000 hours to conceive this organic gallery of art.
There’s a whole lot of pumpkins. A grand total of 2,233 to be exact. Their collective smiles totally light up the night!
Go big or gourd home. Zoo pathways are punctuated by some monster pumpkins: the average weight of these goliath gourds is 1,600 pounds, while the largest is a whopping 2,400 pounds! They were purchased from a grand champion farmer who routinely squashes the competition at giant pumpkin growing contests.
It’s where animal meets vegetable. (Although pumpkins are technically fruit.) Many of the Zoo’s most beloved residents are captured in carvings, including the African elephant, Masai giraffe, cheetah, macaroni penguin, pygmy hippopotamus – and even our President and CEO Dr. Jeremy Goodman and everyone’s favorite Pittsburgh Zoo ambassador, Henry Kacprzyk!
Add-on activities abound. Although jack o’lantern viewing is the festive focus, there are many additional pumpkin-centric activities that can further brighten your visit, including a scavenger hunt, magical spooky specs that transform the light, a seasonal virtual reality show, pumpkin smashing, and a pumpkin patch filled with family fun. (article continues below ⇓)

6. Say hollow to our little friends! Familiar faces abound. Among the gourd-geous works of art, you can spot some of your favorite characters from the worlds of entertainment, sports and more.

7. Pop some pumpkins pictures into your family album! Plenty of photo opportunities sprout to patch together new memories. This new family tradition is the perfect outing for all generations – the Extravaganza has something for everyone!

8. Pittsburgh pumpkins are present. Yinz ain’t seen nothing yet! The Extravaganza celebrates our city by highlighting some of our most favorite Steel City people and places.

9. If your stomach feels as empty as a carved pumpkin, we can fix that! We feature a monstrous menu of specialty foods designed just for this event including spooky popcorn buckets, hot cocoa and cider (with spiked options), cotton candy with gummy spiders, jack o’lantern pretzels, pumpkin funnel cake, Spooky & Cream Dippin’ Dots … There’s even a pit where you can make your own s’mores!

10. Specialty autumn drinks. If you are a pumpkin who prefers to get lit, seasonal craft beers and a blood orange sangria are on tap, too.

11. It’s the whole pumpkin package! Your illuminating experience is highly sensory and includes ambient music, colored lights, ambient sound, and special effects. (Guests with sensory issues can check out a sensory bag at the admission gates.)

12. Our dazzling wonderwall! An impressive glowing wall of pumpkins choreographed to music will be an unforgettable highlight of your Halloween!

13. The fun lasts for a whole month! October just isn’t enough – the Jack O’Lantern Extravaganza runs nightly October 3 through November 3, so you have many opportunities to let the gourd times roll!