the pumpkin festival brings together hundreds of enthusiasts

It had been two years since there had been a “real” pumpkin festival in Saint-Mayme-de-Pereyrol, because of the covid. She returns this year to its 25th edition, with a hundred exhibitors and artisans. Jean-Pierre Besse, farmer and market gardener in his spare time, is always very excited at the approach of this event. This is an opportunity for him to show everyone what he has managed to cultivate.

Edible gourds, to make containers, or even to decorate

“Have you seen all the colors? The greens, the whites, the yellows. Some even have the shape of a rugby ball! It’s fantastic, isn’t it?” he enthuses. This sheep farmer grows squash in the fallonly for fun: selling squash is not really a source of income for him.

He takes care of his vegetables with love, edible and inedible. “When I pick them up, I clean them and I rub them. It takes work, I pamper them, I polish them. It’s a work of art for me” confides Jean-Pierre. This passion came to him suddenly, after leafing through a gardening magazine that talked about squash. Since then, Jean-Pierre has been inexhaustible. He will be able to present his thirty varieties of squash in the streets of Saint-Mayme-de-Pereyrol between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. for the pumpkin fair.

As for the entertainment, there will be something for everyone: knight fights, old games mainly made of wood requiring a lot of skill and dexterity, a goose herder and his leading dog, a clown show, shooting archery, a chainsaw sculptor, an SMD3 games workshop, a military bread oven. Without forgetting, the farmer’s apple juice, the farm and its animals, as well as an exhibition of paintings and photographs, and a mycological exhibition.