5th anniversary for Westchester's most
popular Halloween event
UFOs, Sunflowers, and
buzzing bees
join huge dinosaurs, slithering snakes at The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze
More than
4,000 carved pumpkins on display
in elaborate, massive constructions;
See the Headless Horseman ride at Legend
Visitors
can post video on YouTube and win an iPod touch
Blaze
Title Sponsor: Entergy Nuclear; Legend Sponsor: Hitachi; Media Sponsor: 100.7 WHUD
SLEEPY
HOLLOW, NY (August 26, 2009) - The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze and Legend
Celebration, the tri-state area's biggest and grandest Halloween-inspired
events, are back this October. Blaze, which is celebrating its 5th
anniversary, will take place over 17 nights, including Halloween, and Legend
will take place over four nights.
At Blaze, a spinning UFO, a beehive with bumblebees,
giant sunflowers, and a replica of Henry Hudson's Half Moon are some of the new jack o'lantern installations marking
the 5th year of this incredible display of Halloween-inspired
creativity. A team of artists come together to carve more than 4,000 jacks,
many of them fused together in enormous and elaborate constructions, all lit up
throughout the wooded walkways, orchards, and gardens of historic Van Cortlandt
Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.
The event takes place Oct. 3-4,
10-12, 16-18, 22-25 and 28-Nov. 1. The first reservation is 7 p.m. on Oct. 3-4 and 10-12, and 6:30 p.m. for the other dates.
Sleepy Hollow Country's classic
Halloween extravaganza, Legend Celebration at Washington Irving's Sunnyside in Tarrytown, N.Y.,
and Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., features a family-friendly
daytime program and a spookier evening program. Legend Daytime takes place at
both sites on Oct. 17-18 and 24-25, 10-4 p.m. Legend Nights take place at Philipsburg Manor only.
The first reservation each evening is at 6.
All
events are held rain or shine and all are suitable for children. All proceeds
support Historic Hudson Valley, the non-profit educational organization which
owns and operates the historic sites and produces these events.
Historic Hudson Valley is using social media outlets Twitter, Facebook, and
Flickr, as well as its own HVBlog to connect with fans and offer behind the
scenes info on Blaze and Legend event preparation.
Ticket information
Admission to Blaze and Legend Nights is by
advanced timed ticket ONLY. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for ages 5-17, and
free for children under five. Buy tickets online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling
914-631-8200 ($2 per ticket surcharge for phone orders). For Legend Daytime,
admission is $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens, $6 for ages 5-17, and
free for children under five (reserved tickets are required). Tickets are
available online at www.hudsonvalley.org.
Historic Hudson Valley members get in to all events for free but need
reservations for the evening programs. Full details on becoming a member are
also online.
The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze
The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze is a Halloween
spectacle integrating thousands of hand-carved pumpkins
- everything from your standard jack o' lantern to extremely elaborate abstract
designs - lit up throughout the landscape of Van Cortlandt Manor in
Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., in various thematic and conceptual arrangements.
Themed areas include the Undersea Aquarium, Pirates Cove, life-sized
dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, "Pumpkinhenge," a riff on Stonehenge, a ghostly
outer space gallery with UFOs, a garden with giant sunflowers, an enormous
hillside spider web, still forming "pupa" jack o'-lanterns in cocoons dangling
from trees, Celtic knots, a circus arena with clown carvings, Dracula coffins, a
skeleton graveyard, African masks, and more.
Professional lighting designed by Jay Woods and a spooky aural
soundscape of original music and noises help create a complete all-senses immersion.
Describing
the event as an art installation, Creative Director Michael Natiello, who also
coordinates the music, said the true inspiration for Blaze is the landscape of Van
Cortlandt Manor. Various arrangements and placements of pumpkins are meant to
complement and draw attention to the site's architecture, Revolutionary-era history,
and landscape.
Natiello leads a team of Historic Hudson Valley staff and local artists who carve the pumpkins. In
addition, more than 1,000 volunteers help scoop and light the pumpkins,
including teams from Westchester and Putnam ARC, NY
Life, dozens of Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, Pace University students and faculty,
and high school students.
Blaze
artists will be carving on site during the event, with their finished products
available for purchase. In addition, The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze Shop will
offer a full bounty of Blaze-specific merchandise including hats, notepads, games,
T-shirts, magnets, caps, mugs, jewelry, and books.
Café Blazé,
by Geordane's of Irvington, will offer culinary treats including soup,
veggie chili, muffins, pumpkin cookies, and cider.
A full FAQ about the event appears at www.hudsonvalley.org.
Blaze Title Sponsor is Entergy Nuclear Northeast; Blaze
Media Sponsor is 100.7 WHUD.
Van Cortlandt Manor is at 525 South Riverside Avenue, just off Route 9 in Croton-on-Hudson.
Legend Nights
Legend Nights take place at
Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, which is transformed from an historic 18th-century
farm and gristmill to a ghostly, haunted arena, lit by candle lanterns and
bonfires, with a colorful, creepy cast of characters straight out of Hudson Valley folklore roaming the grounds.
Visitors, who are encouraged to come
in costume, can watch Washington Irving's Headless Horseman take his fabled
ride on a black steed and interact with witches, pirates, and spooky
apparitions. Emmy award-winning lighting designer Deke Hazirjian of New York
City Lites creates a moody, atmospheric tableau.
Storyteller Jonathan Kruk offers
dramatic renditions of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and other tales of the
supernatural.
The event is held Saturday and
Sunday, Oct. 17-18 and 24-25, with the first admission at 6 p.m.
Hitachi America, Ltd. is the sponsor
of Legend Celebration.
Philipsburg Manor is at 381 North
Broadway (Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow.
YouTube video contest
Video-savvy visitors are encouraged to enter the Blaze and Legend YouTube
Video Contest by filming the event, editing their work, and uploading their
video (three minutes or less) to YouTube.
Five iPod touch prizes provided by 100.7 WHUD will be awarded for
the videos that in the view of Historic Hudson Valley's judges best achieve the contest
goal of capturing the creativity and excitement of these events. Full contest
details and requirements are online at www.hudsonvalley.org.
Legend Daytime
Legend Daytime is ideal for the youngest
Halloween fans. Kids and their families are invited to come in costume to
Washington Irving's Sunnyside and Philipsburg Manor for Halloween fun on
Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17-18, 24-25, from 10-4 p.m.
Visitors to Washington Irving's
Sunnyside can get their head examined by a phrenologist and enjoy a Punch Van Winkle puppet show, as well as
games, magic, sing-a-longs, Irish ghost stories, and other kid-friendly
Halloween experiences. For an additional $1 per person charge, Sunnyside offers
spooky woodland walks complete with ghost stories. Online advance reservations
are needed for the walks.
At Philipsburg Manor, children can
take part in pumpkin carving and colonial-era games, while listening to spooky
storytelling and visiting the water-powered gristmill.
Sunnyside is at 89 West Sunnyside Lane, off Route 9 in Tarrytown.
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