One of my favourite parts about living in Germany was all the cultural events I was able to go to. It seemed that there was something new to do every couple of weeks – from springtime Easter traditions, to the wine festivals of harvest season and the world-famous Christmas markets in winter.
A perhaps lesser-known event takes place in Ludwigsburg, a small city just north of Stuttgart, from the end of August to the start of November every year. Here, the palace gardens host the Ludwigsburg Kürbisausstellung (Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival) – the largest of its kind in the world. We’re talking 450,000 individual pumpkins from 600 varieties!
Naturally, we had to visit such a unique attraction.
Getting There
Ludwigsburg is easily accessed from Stuttgart by taking an S-Bahn train north for around 15 minutes. From the station it’s then a simple stroll through town to reach the Residenzschloss (Residential Palace) – a beautiful baroque building with extensive grounds and gardens.
The first time we tried to visit was a Sunday, and it was extremely busy with lots of families around. The queues to get in stretched all the way down the road at every entrance point and I was not keen on waiting in those kinds of queues (or on paying to get in, as a matter of fact).
So we tried another strategy and walked around the grounds looking for a different way in. This was rewarded when we found a tiny open gate at the top end of the grounds, with people just walking in and out. So we slipped in and went for a look around. (I wouldn’t recommend this or do this now as I’ve learned to appreciate how much it costs to put on an event like this, but at the time I was conscious of budget over anything else).
Unfortunately this time, the event was just too busy for me. I was stressed out in the crowds and wasn’t enjoying it, so we decided to skip a bit of uni and return the following day when it would be quieter.
And so it was Halloween, October 31st, when we made a proper visit to this fabulous festival.
The Lowdown
The festival can really be split into three main attractions: pumpkin sculptures, giant carved pumpkins, and pumpkin food. There is also a small market where you can buy a range of varieties of squash from around the world. Some are edible and others just ornamental, but all are different to your standard supermarket variety!
Each year the festival has a different theme. For 2023 the theme was “rainforest” and all the sculptures were designed to tie into this theme.
Tickets to get in cost €11,50 for an adult, but only €5,50 for us as students, which was actually very reasonable.
Pumpkin Sculptures
Possibly the star of the show for me are the sculptures. Whilst it’s impossible to make them completely out of pumpkins, they are still very impressive and use such a variety of different squashes.
They’re spaced out nicely over the grounds and since it was a Monday morning, we were able to walk around without the crowds and just enjoy the artwork.
My favourites from this year were probably the orangutan and the parrot, but I also really liked the characters from The Jungle Book – it was a clever spin on the rainforest theme.
As well as the large sculptures there are also some small ones dotted around. I really enjoyed coming across these and it was a reminder that simple designs can be really effective.
We also found a small workshop which created little pumpkin characters. These were carved almost to resemble wood, and the detail in the faces was really impressive.
Pumpkin Food
I was super excited to try some of the pumpkin food! I rarely cook with squashes so I was hoping for some great flavours that I hadn’t really tasted much before.
There were a variety of dishes to pick from, but being conscious of our budget, Sam and I decided keep it simple and share a bowl of pumpkin soup.
The soup was delicious and full of flavour! Definitely some of the best festival food I’ve ever had. We also got ourselves a bottle of “Pumpkin-secco” – prosecco made with pumpkin flavour. This is definitely something you’ll struggle to find anywhere else, and its not like any drink I’ve had before. It’s difficult to describe the flavour but I was pleasantly surprised and I would have it again!
Pumpkin Carving
The final main attraction of the festival is the pumpkin growing competition. The three heaviest pumpkins entered are put on display and are carved into by what can only be described as professional pumpkin carvers. We actually witnessed this being done during our visit, which was interesting to watch. It’s definitely a massive step up in skill, tools and time from the way I used to carve Halloween pumpkins as a child!
Pumpkin Market
Finally we visited the market to buy a couple of smaller squashes for ourselves. The variety here is really impressive. It was lovely to wander around and look at all the different colours, sizes and shapes.
We ended up both buying tiny ornamental ones for some autumnal room decoration, and then a pale pink edible one to share for making a meal sometime.
In Summary
This was definitely a great way to spend Halloween! With the food options, sights to see and general atmosphere, I really enjoyed my visit. So much so, that I returned the following year to experience the festival again. Stay tuned for a post on that soon…
