Tonight we went to the Franklin Botanical Garden for their Pumpkins Aglow event. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we saw lots of pumpkins which gave me all kinds of ideas for Halloween next year. Thankfully, the picture above did not.

We had been wanting hot cider all weekend, and we found it at the event But then we also discovered that they had a bourbon apple cider cocktail! Yum! There were a lot of kids and families there, and there were all kinds of fun things for the younger ones. They had sand sculpture and a scary dance floor. I tried to get Jon to go dance, but that was a no.

As evening settled in the lights became more spooky and fun. The trees were all lit up like a haunted forest, and the pumpkins were definitely aglow. There were hundreds of them! There was even a little house made of pumpkins and other gourds that you can walk through.

The fire dancer was pretty amazing. She did all kinds of moves and tricks with several different fiery props. This particular act was supposed to be a fire monster, and somehow I captured this photo in the perfect pose and 90% in focus. She looks pretty fierce.

The event exceeded our expectations as it felt like walking into an enchanted version of the Botanical Gardens. Food trucks, cocktails, fire dancers, and tons of pumpkins made for a fun evening.

Nikon Z50, f6, 1/500, ISO2500