Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 minutes ago
Smashing pumpkins: Annual squash festival draws thousands to Brussels castle

Organisers in Belgium expect 50,000 visitors at a pumpkin festival that will celebrate the wonderous ways of using the big vegetable.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/10/17/smashing-pumpkins-annual-squash-festival-draws-thousands-to-brussels-castle

Spark your senses, wake your wonder. Euronews Culture seeks to show creativity in action and inspire our audience to explore the world through the five senses. Start your journey through the best of Europe's arts, gastronomy, traditions and high-end craftsmanship.

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:00A castle next to Brussels is holding its annual pumpkin festival.
00:03There are so many pumpkins around the castle that no one knows the exact number, even the organizer.
00:09A lot, a lot. We have larrys coming with pumpkins, pumpkins and pumpkins.
00:13Pumpkins were gathered not only from Belgium but also all the way from Portugal or Germany.
00:17A lot from Belgium. We have in the region of Ghent, a farmer who is producing those big ones as
00:25well.
00:25The biggest one is right next to me, weighing 772 kilograms.
00:30They seem like surreal. We have our own pumpkins at home, and we have a really big one, and it's
00:37this size, and then we see this.
00:40Some of the big pumpkins were also turned into boats, despite the harvest not being the greatest due to the
00:46hot summer.
00:46Yeah, the pumpkin is pretty fun. The kayak, it's just sad maybe you cannot go further.
00:52But yeah, it's also pretty tough to kayak on it.
00:56But people like that, and they put their baby in the water and the pumpkin, and they take pictures.
01:02Sailing in a pumpkin is not the only activity.
01:04The most popular one is pumpkin carving, as everyone is preparing for Halloween.
01:09You have to follow what the pumpkin suggests to you. You have a shape, and this is a big constraint,
01:19and actually you just play with it.
01:21He makes two, three works per day, with the one that he's holding in his hands taking around two hours.
01:27But those who attend the festival are also going for easier designs.
01:32It's actually surprisingly easier than I expected, you know, but I can see that a lot of people go for
01:39really
01:40intriguing design, and I think we will just keep it as simple as possible.
01:43We've been here longer than everyone else so far, and we're not done yet. But it's really fun, it's not
01:53that hard.
02:17The festival will be running until the beginning of November.
02:22I think that's a good place, for reference work.
02:24And the festival, the festival will be coming.
02:26So again, the festival, the festival will be coming.
02:27And that's not the festival, the festival.
02:27It's going to be looking for the festival, and the festival will not only be уров, but the festival is
02:27simply called the festival.

Recommended