The Pumpkins Are Coming!

Whitefish Bay's trademark pumpkin festival will debut next week, kicking off five days of pumpking carving fun in Old Schoolhouse Park.

The Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation's Great Pumpkin Festival will be held Oct. 24-28 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. For the first time, the festival will also have a special trick or treat event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Halloween, which falls on Wed., Oct. 31.

All that's needed to participate is a creative mind and community spirit. Simply pick out your pumpkin and bring it into the carving tent, where tools, candles and table space are provided.

Once you've decorated your jack-o-lantern, you can place it on the bleachers in the park, where will be lit on display every night.

Related: 25 years of pumpkin carving magic in Whitefish Bay

Video: Pumpkin carvers dig in to Great Pumpkin Festival

It's not just pumpkins, though. Each night will feature food from Pandl’s Whitefish Bay Inn, as well as the following musical entertainment:

Wed., Oct. 24: Reilly

Thurs., Oct. 25: Blue Sky Hour

Fri., Oct. 26: Dante's Bop

Sat., Oct. 27: The Gleasons

Sun., Oct. 28: Whitefish Bay's own Pat McCurdy (Note: Village-wide trick-or-treating is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.)

Wed., Oct. 31: Storyteller Theater of Milwaukee presents: Zombie Jamboree - Songs, Stories and Spooks