Isla Vista Haunted Pumpkin Patch Halloween

Isla Vista is no longer a scary place for Halloween. Just lots of creative fun for all with the Isla Vista Haunted Pumpkin Patch!

Here are my photos and here are my videos.

Thanks to the Isla Vista Parks and Recreation District for sponsoring it. Thanks to the Lucidity Festivals people for creating and managing the artistry and performances. Thanks to Jonathan and Kym of the Environment Makers for the magnificent lighting and special effects.

Entry to the actual Pumpkin Patch is only allowed after you have visited the characters and performances along the way. Last year this was verified by a passport that was stamped at each station. This year it was verified by collecting a token from each station master or mistress.

Upon arrival, Merlie and I were greeted by Jonah the Werewolf.

Our first stop was the photo booth. Not an official station, but fun to watch people pose and we participated, too.

At least for now, you can view and download all of the photos at this link.

The first station mistress was Ziggy Flame aka the Haay’all Rockstar played by Ariana Rose.

We entered the Costume Contest arena, where this panel sat in judgment.

We opted to continue to the various stations before coming back for the Costume Contest. The first station we visited was with Louie D’Ville played by Andres “Bo” Filmonia. Ron Glover of Lucidity kindly posed with his daughter Kyra along with Louie. Louie is one of the evil figures in this story, trying to turn Isla Vista’s parks into profit centers for private greed.

Next we lined up to meet the Owl, played by Carmina Barbara. Merlie received her feather token after asking a question of the Owl.

Next we entered the 3D Blacklight Experience Psychedelic Zone. A series of backdrops ideal for stunning photographs. We posed with several of these and watched others pose there as well.

Next we went to meet the Oracle. The Oracle was off in another dimension at the time, so we waited with Princess Leia and her friends.

But then the Oracle reappeared, played by Krystal Freedom. I have known her for many years and knew her parents for many years before that. She is an awesome Oracle with her ghoulish eyes and thoughtful answers to my Big Questions about the nature of reality.

Merlie posed in the nearby graveyard.

At this point we seemed to have enough tokens to allow entry to the Pumpkin Patch. But first we had to get approval from the Pumpkin King. We only learned later that he was played by our Solstice friend Nobuo!

These young people were next to ask for admission.

We were then greeted by these lovely ladies from Isla Vista Recreation and Park District.

We then got to the final goal: A meeting with the actual Pumpkin Queen. Played by our friend Vivian Storm. We also were given a free pumpkin of our choice. Being on bicycles, we opted for a small one.

We now circled back to the Costume Contest, including a Talent Contest. Here a caveman and cave woman rode out on stage on their dinosaur. As we all know from The Flintstones this was not at all anachronistic.

What was heartwarming at this event: People of all ages and some from outside Isla Vista came to enjoy it all. Including this family.

Here were a few more of the many costumed contestants.

I have many video clips from the Costume Contest Talent Show, which I have merged into a few videos.

This set involved characters that we found unfamiliar. Perhaps someone can tell us who are these characters?

Did you know that Eve was rescued by Jesus after she was thrown out of the Garden of Eden? You heard it here first.

Here was a series of many of my short clips of Talent Show contestants.

In the end, the Pumpkin King and Queen came out on stage to warn the greedy evil characters not to steal our Isla Vista Parks.

Let’s hope all of the sponsors, performers and artists are willing to come back next year for another edition of the Isla Vista Haunted Pumpkin Patch!

– Robert Bernstein