The Pumpkin Forest at Carved, Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, California, Friday, October 5, 2024. Photo by Monique A. LeBleu.
Carved, at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada-Flintridge, comes once again to open spooky season for families and children of all ages, bringing an assortment of fun and interactive activities, art, and a mild and serene macabre.
Beginning in the magic hour of dusk, young Jedis light-saber their way through a dimly lit hay bale maze, fairy princesses twirl to Spanish guitar at the Ofrenda in the Under the Oaks Theater, and kids of all ages dance around tap lights illuminating the forests.
During this autumn season, the garden’s peacefully verdant landscape lends to the magical and haunting beauty of Carved. Unhurried paths lead through shadowy patches of charmed jack-o-lanterns and colorful folklore vignettes. Incandescent globe fire pits cast amber shadows along forest pathways. A mistiness steals out of the gloaming and the air shimmers like water as a storm threatens and a Kraken slinks through a shipwreck. A meandering bridge way, aglow with hundreds of straw lanterns, illuminates a promenade past shimmering pools and swaying corn stalk. Enchanting ghost sculptures “wander” gracefully through the moonlit roses and naked lady lilies of the Rose Garden.
Carved, Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, California, Friday, October 5, 2024. Photo by Monique A. LeBleu.
Next to the ofrenda and the hay bale maze on the Main Lawn, families gather in the food court where vended is both the savory and the sweet, including a very sweet Apple Pie cookie—a sugar cookie topped with an apple pie filling—, a Pumpkin Spice Churro, and hot cider or hot chocolate—including available spirits such as Bailey’s Irish Cream, Tia Maria, and more, for adults to cool it off.
The larger pumpkins throughout are also individually carved by artists and can weigh “in the hundreds of pounds,” According to information provided by Descanso Gardens. These pumpkins may last about three days, which promises that new designs could popup throughout the event.
Other highlights include a realized model train fantasy through a miniature Autumns landscape, a sculpted “family of wood spirits,” carved by Chainsaw Jenna, from five giant logs, the glowing “Rhizome” art installation from international artists by Tom and Lien Dekyvere, and a food court filled with an array of revolving and evolving jack-o-lantern sculptures, a pumpkin cabin, and social media ready stations.
The Ofrenda at Carved, Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge, California, Friday, October 5, 2024. Photo by Monique A. LeBleu.
Carved is October 4–30, 2024, and is open 6–10 p.m. Available entry times are 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., 8:30 p.m., & 9 p.m. Ticket prices are $25-$45, depending on the night, and members receive a $7 discount per ticket. Tickets are non-refundable, have a timed entry, must be purchased in advance, and the event is rain-or-shine event.
