Boulevard Pumpkin Festival cancelled, Scott’s Addition event still on

Event organizers disagree whether this is the second year of the festival or a new event entirely.

September 25, 2014; 2:26 PM • by Trevor Dickerson

Richmonders sure love a good festival. And they’re a dime a dozen in town from early spring through late fall. With so many though, often times there’s a bit of overlap and confusion.

Each year the city has competing Earth Day and St. Patrick’s Day festivals, and this year it looks as through we would have a third confusing weekend to contend with, with similar fall festivals in Scott’s Addition and the Museum District. Granted, the latter of the pairs were at least on separate days.

Well, we no longer have to worry about that debacle in parts west of the Boulevard. At least this year. The Boulevard Pumpkin Festival has been cancelled, but the Scott’s Addition Pumpkin Festival will go on as planned.

Here’s how the whole situation shook out. Hang on, it’s a bumpy ride.

Last year, the Boulevard Pumpkin Festival was held on Boulevard between West Broad and Leigh Streets. Over 13,000 attendees took to the streets, making the festival a raging success in its first year. The event was put on by local promotions company Experience RVA and Brooks Stone, president of the Scott’s Addition Business Association. It went off seemingly without a hitch.

But then things fell apart.

This year, the association took over the event, renamed it to the Scott’s Addition Pumpkin Festival, and enlisted a new event partner, Three One One Productions. Experience RVA then applied for city permits for their own festival near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, also on Boulevard.

Richmond.com has details on the situation, including what might have possibly caused Experience RVA to pull their event, plus both sides of the story from each organizer, in their own words.

More information on the Scott’s Addition Pumpkin Festival and the full roster of activities planned for this year’s event is available here.

File photo/Trevor Dickerson