Operation Pumpkin - Pumpkin and Art Festival News

The 12th Annual Operation Pumpkin & Art Festival

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 17:27:40 GMT

October 13 – 15, 2023 in downtown Hamilton, Ohio

The 12th Annual Operation Pumpkin Festival, voted the Best Annual Festival in Butler County , takes place in downtown Hamilton, Ohio on October 13 and 14 from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. and October 15th from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

“The central focus of this festival continues to be the giant pumpkins and extremely talented sculptors that make this festival a unique and special experience for everyone that visits,” said Jason Snyder, Co-Chair of Operation Pumpkin Festival.

Entertainment for the weekend includes the award-winning pumpkin weigh-off. Operation Pumpkin remains a sanctioned event through the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) and will continue to abide by GPC rules and regulations. In 2022 a site record was set by Frank Morse for his giant pumpkin that weighed in at 2,350 pounds, which was a state record for Michigan. This year, Operation Pumpkin will award $35,000 in prize money to the top 25 growers. The location of the weigh-off has been moved to the forefront of the festival directly in front of the Hamilton Municipal Building on High Street.

Live entertainment will take place on the main stage all weekend, including headliners My Girl Friday on Friday night, the Michelle Robinson Band on Saturday night and The Wonderlands on Sunday afternoon. We will host the crowd-favorite Pet Parade and Lil’ Miss Punkin Contest on Sunday. With the addition of the Hometown Stage on Market and N. 2nd Streets, thirteen local bands were added to the weekend lineup.

All weekend long, arts and crafts vendors will be lining High Street along with amusement rides, pumpkin silhouettes in Rotary Park, car show, farmers market and more. This year the footprint of the festival has been expanded to be able to accommodate more vendors and an enhanced kids zone, which includes a pumpkin painting, live entertainment and a pumpkin derby.

We are accepting applications for the Pet Parade and Lil’ Miss Punkin Content. Additionally, there are still opportunities for the community to volunteer at the event to help make it a success. Sign up for these on our website at www.operation-pumpkin.org .

The festival is free and open to the public! Celebrate autumn in style with food and crafts from vendors around Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana.

Operation Pumpkin Announces New Partnership for 2022

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 15:09:00 GMT

The 11th Annual Operation Pumpkin Festival will take place in historic downtown Hamilton from October 7 – 9, 2022. As preparation is underway for 2022, the festival announces a new Weigh-Off partner for 2022.

“We are excited to partner with Mike Blevins, a local grower, to lead the Weigh-Off portion of the event this year,” said co-chair Jason Snyder. “Mike will be officially joining the committee later this month.”

Blevins is an award-winning giant pumpkin grower that began his growing journey in 2018. Having grown multiple pumpkins at varying weights throughout the years, he achieved his personal best at the 2021 Operation Pumpkin Weigh-Off where his orange giant weighed in at 1390.5 pounds.

“I am a proud Hamilton native and grow all of my pumpkins in the backyard of my home in Hamilton, which has been appropriately named the Cul-De-Sac Pumpkin Patch, ” said Mike. Mike’s roots run deep in the city and he's excited to be further involved, while simultaneously working on his passions.

This change comes after partnering for 10 years with the Southern Ohio Pumpkin Growers. “We are grateful for their support and partnership over the past 10 years. This change provides us an opportunity to expand all portions of the Weigh-Off and add additional educational components for growers,” said Snyder.

Community support through sponsorship is a key driver to success each October. With Blevins as an official committee member, the festival is able to hold events leading up to the festival for anyone interested in becoming a grower or bettering their current gardens. Operation Pumpkin remains a sanctioned event through the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) and will continue to abide by GPC rules and regulations.

Blevins’s first Grower Seminar will take place on March 26 at 1 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott in Hamilton. Jeff Theil, state record holder, will be the guest speaker at the event that is free and open to the public. The overall goal is to get more people involved in the sport which in turn will increase interest and attendance at the event in October.

10th Annual Operation Pumpkin Festival October 8 -10th

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 19:57:00 GMT

This weekend kicks off the 10th Annual Operation Pumpkin Festival in downtown Hamilton, Ohio. This year’s festival will take place October 8 and 9th from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. and October 10th from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

“We are excited that Operation Pumpkin, consistently recognized as a premier festival in southwest Ohio, is back in 2021 with a great line-up of music and vendors,” said Jason Snyder, Co-Chair of Operation Pumpkin Festival. “The central focus of this festival continues to be the giant pumpkins that we showcase thanks to our partnership with the Southern Ohio Giant Pumpkin Growers and the extremely talented sculptors that make this festival a unique and special experience for everyone that visits.”

Operation Pumpkin opens on Friday, October 8 at 11 a.m. and runs through Sunday, October 10 at 5 p.m. Entertainment for the weekend includes the award-winning pumpkin and watermelon weigh-off. Operation Pumpkin currently holds the world record for watermelon, weighing in at 350.5 lbs.

Addition entertainment includes the Naked Karate Girls on Friday night, Don’t Tell Steve on Saturday night and Saffire Express on Sunday afternoon. We will host the crowd favorite Pet Parade on Sunday along with amusement rides, kids zone, petting zoo and more throughout the weekend. Arts and crafts vendors and Food Truck Alley will be lining High Street and surrounding the Butler County Courthouse.

Update Regarding 2022 Lil Miss Contest

Mon, 20 Sep 2021 22:01:00 GMT

The committee has been staying on top of the evolving status of the COVID-19 pandemic as the festival approaches. With the increase in positive cases among the younger generation, the committee has decided not do the traditional indoor Lil Miss Punkin contest this year.

Anyone that registered as of September 13th were invited to to join us as Grand Marshalls of the Pet Parade at Operation Pumpkin on Sunday, 10/10 at 12pm. As Grand Marshalls, they will lead the pet parade throughout the festival and end at the main stage for a group photo and each contestant will get a fresh flower bouquet.

While we are disappointed and had hoped that we could have the Lil Miss Punkin contest, especially for our 10th year, we must make a responsible decision to keep all contestants, families & committee members safe.

We look forward to the return of Lil Miss in 2022!

Operation Pumpkin Festival Adjusts Event Due to COVID-19

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:00:00 GMT

Operation Pumpkin’s mission has always been to bring people together in downtown Hamilton to highlight Hamilton’s resurgence, small businesses, restaurants and breweries. For the past several months, the Operation Pumpkin committee has been working to determine the best path forward for the 2020 festival. The top priority is the safety for participating businesses and festival attendees.

With these objectives in mind, the committee has decided to host an altered 2020 Operation Pumpkin Festival. The festival boundary will be expanded to include businesses on Main and High Street. Additionally, Operation Pumpkin 2020 will take place Thursday to Saturday, October 8th-10th.

We will be decorating downtown Hamilton for fall, including placing up to 50 carved-pumpkins in front of businesses, and inviting people to come enjoy and support the many small businesses in Hamilton. Operation Pumpkin will also be coordinating with the schools in Hamilton to deliver pumpkins to all 4th graders.

Due the unpredictability of the virus, Operation Pumpkin will not host the weigh-off, seek vendors, host the Pet Parade or Lil Miss Pumpkin competitions.

We are seeking Event and Great Wall of Pumpkin Sponsors for this year's event.

“We are disappointed we cannot produce the festival as we have for the past 9 years, but if we’ve learned anything over the past 5 months, it is that we all have to do our part to mitigate the risk of this virus,” said Jason Snyder, Operation Pumpkin co-founder. “We know that Operation Pumpkin weekend brings a tremendous amount of economic development to the city. We are hopeful that our efforts will still bring needed energy to businesses while keeping everyone safe.”

In 2021, Operation Pumpkin will be celebrating it’s 10th Anniversary. We plan to host the festival in its entirety next year and will be calling for vendors and sponsors after the first of the year.

For more information about Operation Pumpkin and to learn more about the activities that will take place in 2020 as they are finalized, visit www.operation-pumpkin.org or follow us on Facebook facebook.com/operationpumpkin.

Operation Pumpkin Founders Jason & Tammy Snyder named Hamilton Citizens of the Year!

Fri, 19 Jan 2018 14:33:00 GMT

check out this Journal-News article to read more about it

Operation Pumpkin 2018 Dates!

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 00:52:00 GMT

Welcome to 2018! Hamilton's premier downtown festival will take place October 12-14 this year. Stay tuned for more updates about how to...