Many thanks to all who submitted their entries in this year’s Pumpkin Carving Contest. There were many amazing jack-o’-lanterns this year and our jury had a blast selecting winners in the Scariest, Funniest, Kids, Best Philly Themed, and Special Prize categories. Also, we’d like to thank everyone who voted for their favorite pumpkin and helped us select the Readers’ Choice winner.

Here are this year’s winners and we are already looking forward to next year’s contest!

Readers’ Choice: Bimal Desai (Dragon pumpkin)

Bimal Desai, a pediatrician and married father of two, did it again! His outstanding Dragon pumpkin was an absolute favorite in the Readers’ Choice category. Out of 289 votes submitted 112 were cast for this pumpkin. Congratulations to Bimal and he wins some great prizes from local businesses: a $40 gift certificate from Cafe Renata, a $40 gift card from Sabrina’s Cafe, a three-month membership to International House Philadelphia, a $25 gift certificate from Honest Tom’s Taco Shop and two Curio Theatre tickets. 

Bimal wrote that he is “really thrilled” to be a winner in the contest again. Just a reminder that he won in the Readers’ Choice category in our inaugural pumpkin carving contest in 2011 and also was a winner in other categories in the past. We asked him about how he manages to win year after year, about his latest pumpkin carving technique and a few other things. We’ll publish his reponses later this week.

Kids Category: Edward Brown, 11 (“Dracula” pumpkin)

We’re really happy that more children participated in this year’s contest. We loved all the pumpkins submitted by our younger neighbors, but we had to pick one. Our jury selected 11-year-old Edward Brown and his “Dracula” pumpkin as the winner in the Kids Category (12 and under). We’re really blown away by Edward’s pumpkin carving skills for the second year in a row. Congrats to him and here’s what he wins: A $30 gift card from Lil’ Pop Shop and two general admission tickets to Penn Museum and the Fall 2014 edition of their Expedition magazine.

Scariest Pumpkin: Dan Consiglio (“Grinning Villain” pumpkin)

A couple of pumpkins were considered for this category, but Dan Consiglio’s grinning “Villain” pumpkin was selected by our jury as the winner. Great job! Dan wins a $25 gift certificate from Rx The Farmacy, a popular local brunch spot.

Funniest Pumpkin: Jadyn Wagner, 10 (“Happy Cannibal” pumpkin)

We have some talented young folks in the hood! This one was quite easy: 10-year-old Jadyn Wagner carved a great pumpkin, a mischievous “Happy Cannibal” pumpkin, which wins in this year’s Funniest Pumpkin category. Congrats to Jadyn, who will receive a prize (a $25 gift card) from local craft and gift shop VIX Emporium.

Best Philly Themed: Katrine Lvovskaya (“Eastern State Penitentiary and Frank the Gargoyle” pumpkin)

This one was very easy: Only one pumpkin submitted for this year’s contest had a Philly themed design. But, what a great design! Neighbor Katrine Lvovskaya carved the Eastern State Penitentiary and Frank the Gargoyle on it! Congratulations to Katrine. She wins a $25 gift certificate from Rx The Farmacy.

Special Prize: Elias Schwartz, 3 (“Super Cute” pumpkin)

We introduced a special prize this year to encourage participation in the contest. It was drawn randomly from the entries that didn’t win in any other categories. And guess what? This year’s Special Prize winner is our youngest participant, 3-year-old Elias Schwarz, who by the way, designed a very cute pumpkin. Great job, Elias! Elias’s prize is a $25 gift card from Mariposa Food Coop.