Get ready to paint this place orange!

We’ve all heard the one about seeing red, but how about orange? Well, Sept. 30 is the day, kiddies, and for the next month after that orange will be the colour of choice in the Annapolis Valley.

The 2008 Valley Pumpkin Festival kicks off at the Kings County Museum in Kentville at noon the last day of September. A propos, I’d say, since Kentville is renowned for both its Pumpkin People and Harvest Festival.

But let’s not limit our focus to what’s happening in the Shiretown. The Valley Pumpkin Fest is a huge undertaking that spans communities from Windsor to Berwick and just about everywhere in-between.

The Festival itself was initiated in 2005 by a group of businesspeople, community organizations and citizens. They had a notion to create a world-class fall festival and there’s no doubt they have succeeded beyond all imagining.

The name and theme tries to capture and communicate the agriculture, cuisine and culture of the fall season in the Valley and builds on the region’s existing assets: U-picks, farms, Pumpkin Weigh-Off events, Pumpkin People and Windsor’s Pumpkin Regatta to name only a few activities.

It’s part of a major marketing and self-promotion effort that appeals not only to local residents - who I know thrill to this stuff every year - but those from away who long to share in the rural experience we enjoy.

Best of all, the group keyed on an iconic symbol of the season – the pumpkin. What could be a better and more encompassing symbol of harvest, celebration, mystery and gastronomic delight than a pumpkin?

I don’t know about you, but pumpkin pie is my favourite dessert. There’s nothing that says harvest and bountiful indulgence than a thick slice laden with whipped cream and then a second piece if I can shoehorn it in. Yum!

Pumpkins personify Halloween, especially to kids, and we never have to cajole our young charges to explore the patch at Noggins Corner Farm, for example. Say the word and they’re in the car, good to go in a flash because the payoff is just so huge.

I remember our big boy, at three years of age no less, struggling to cradle a massive orange specimen in two hands and bring it over so I could see it. It was darn hard work, but his smile said it all despite the obvious effort. The exertion was worth every second because he had the one he wanted and as far as he was concerned, everything was all right in the world.

That’s the power and magic of the season and it spans geography and generations. If you love food, fun, anything and everything pumpkin, this time of year is tailored to your taste.

Head to www.valleypumpkinfest.ca, see the schedule of events and find an activity. You have a month starting Sept. 30 to hit the highlights. And make no mistake; it’s a slam dunk, folks. You’ll have a ball.