Circleville’s 110th annual Pumpkin Show will include a giant pumpkin weigh-in, cloggers, live music and a parade featuring Ohio University's Marching 110.
The 110 is returning after a few years of absence to play in Thursday evening's Parade of Bands, which is one of several parades scheduled for the festival. The Pumpkin Show, which is taking place about an hour and a half away from Athens, will have four days of festivities.
Marching 110 assistant director Josh Boyer compared the event, which draws thousands of people, to a “mini Macy’s” Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“It’s a really big event, and what makes this year special, and why we’re returning ... is it’s actually the 110th Circleville Pumpkin Show,” he said. “So it makes sense to invite the Marching 110 to come and perform. That was kind of the catalyst for us coming back.”
The 110 will be performing “Cake By the Ocean” by DNCE, which they performed earlier this year, along with “Stand Up and Cheer.” Along the parade route, the band will stop at five reviewing stands and play one of their standard tunes, “Ain’t Been Good” or “Long Train Running.”
“It’s a big-time event,” Boyer said. “The (band) enjoys it, I think, because of the atmosphere and (some) other weird, quirky things that they have there."
Boyer said aside from performing in the parade, he is particularly looking forward to all the pumpkin-flavored foods available at the festival.
“The pumpkin donuts are fantastic,” he said. “They have everything pumpkin you can imagine.”
Taylor Hickman, a senior studying graphic design and a member of the 110, played in the Pumpkin Show parade for four years with her high school marching band at Johnstown High School. Now, she is excited but a little nervous to return with her college band.
She said she thinks performing in the parade with the Marching 110 will create a different atmosphere than when she played in high school.
“It’s really rewarding because it was my favorite parade in high school, and I’ve always wanted to go back to it,” she said. “The chance to get to do that my senior year is very rewarding and very exciting.”
Nate Wise, a freshman studying music education, has never been to the Pumpkin Show before but is excited for the rare chance to perform with the 110 in a parade setting.
“I like doing parades, and we don’t do a whole lot of (them) besides marching to the games,” he said. “I think it’ll be cool to go somewhere else and see how people react to the band."
