The Kurbis Fest (Pumpkin fest) in Ludwigsburg, Germany gets a lot of attention and hype this time of year. I have a neighbor who raved about it, and an acquaintance that didn't favor it much. After reading blogs, and reviews, we decided to go see it for ourselves. It was interesting...I can say that's for sure.
After fighting for an hour to get a parking spot, we walked about 9 blocks to Ludwigsburg Palace; the location of the festival. It cost us about 30 € for our family of six to get in, not including the palace tour. We figured we'd save that for a different time of year when it's not as busy.
The grounds in the front of the palace are beautiful; lush green grass, flowers, and pumpkins lined the pathways.
Here's the real deal, in my honest opinion, no sugar coating:
Note that I really really wanted to enjoy this festival. I LIVE for autumn, it's my favorite season, and I went to Kurbis Fest with all intentions to love this festival. This festival is more like one giant gourd farmer's market.
Any kind of gourd you please is being sold here. Pumpkins and squash in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, and most are ornamental. Similar to the fall produce you find in a supermarket around Thanksgiving that's used for decoration. There weren't any rides, there weren't any games, mainly vendors selling gourds. There were vendors selling a few other things, too. I had bought pumpkin wine for 6€. There is cooked food sold as well, and food items all of the pumpkin variety: Pumpkin spaghetti, pumpkin fries, just to name a few things. The festival hosts random events scheduled on different days, but we must have missed it the day we visited. The event we missed was "Pumpkin carving".
The other thing to see at the festival is the random pumpkin displays. Each year hosts a different theme, and I am not entirely sure what this year's theme was?! We saw an Elvis Presley pumpkin statue, and another near by that was a giant frog. Not sure how they go hand in hand? I love pumpkins and all things fall, but the festival was very disorganized, and it almost seemed as if pumpkins were just dumped around the place in small piles to add some flair, or to legitimize the name of the festival.
TIP: My ding-dong neighbors had first told us about this festival. The wife went on and on about it, and we saw them hop in (and then later on that evening, out of) their minivan dressed in Bavarian tracht, or traditional clothing the day they had went. DO NOT DO THIS without checking facts of the event you plan to attend first. If you're American and don't know better, just don't wear tracht.
After fighting for an hour to get a parking spot, we walked about 9 blocks to Ludwigsburg Palace; the location of the festival. It cost us about 30 € for our family of six to get in, not including the palace tour. We figured we'd save that for a different time of year when it's not as busy.
The grounds in the front of the palace are beautiful; lush green grass, flowers, and pumpkins lined the pathways.
We hit the front door of the palace, and could not for the life of us find a sign that pointed us in the direction of the festival. People were wandering all over. Like drunk cockroaches. No real sense of direction. I knew it had to be behind the palace if it wasn't in front of it, so we needed to figure out how to get there. It wasn't as simple as it seemed. First we ran into a side garden that lead to nowhere, and then we saw masses of people suddenly forming a directional purpose below this garden. It's hard to explain in words.
Anyway, we followed the crowd and there it was, the pumpkin festival.
Now I'm not sure if we came on a terrible day, or a terrible time of day, but there were even more swarms of people once inside of the actual festival area. Some paths were so crowded that it was impossible to maneuver without walking through the grass (which is frowned upon). The statue displays scattered throughout the festival, made of pumpkin, looked 'tired', and worn. The food lines were a joke. I sat there wondering if this was THEE festival that so many bloggers before me gave two thumbs up. It is, and I was disappointed.
I REALLY hate being negative when it comes to tourism, sightseeing, and yada ya, but I felt jipped. I feel as if some people who may read this and plan to go to this festival in the future need to know the real deal.
The deal is this: Some folks make everything abroad sound lovely, but in my experience, that's not always the case. I have to wonder if said bloggers make everything sound hunky-dory so that the folks back home give them the "Ohhh wow. I want to see that...you're so lucky" type of comments or feedback.
Here's the real deal, in my honest opinion, no sugar coating:
Note that I really really wanted to enjoy this festival. I LIVE for autumn, it's my favorite season, and I went to Kurbis Fest with all intentions to love this festival. This festival is more like one giant gourd farmer's market.
Any kind of gourd you please is being sold here. Pumpkins and squash in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, and most are ornamental. Similar to the fall produce you find in a supermarket around Thanksgiving that's used for decoration. There weren't any rides, there weren't any games, mainly vendors selling gourds. There were vendors selling a few other things, too. I had bought pumpkin wine for 6€. There is cooked food sold as well, and food items all of the pumpkin variety: Pumpkin spaghetti, pumpkin fries, just to name a few things. The festival hosts random events scheduled on different days, but we must have missed it the day we visited. The event we missed was "Pumpkin carving".
The other thing to see at the festival is the random pumpkin displays. Each year hosts a different theme, and I am not entirely sure what this year's theme was?! We saw an Elvis Presley pumpkin statue, and another near by that was a giant frog. Not sure how they go hand in hand? I love pumpkins and all things fall, but the festival was very disorganized, and it almost seemed as if pumpkins were just dumped around the place in small piles to add some flair, or to legitimize the name of the festival.
What I did enjoy:
Aside from the festival, I loved the palace grounds. There is a 'Rapunzel's Castle' on the grounds, which lures in the little girls at the fest. It's a serene area of the palace's gardens; a bit on the quiet side, and less crowded. I enjoyed the flowers, sculptured hedges/bushes, and the architecture of the palace exterior. I would much rather go back on a day where a festival isn't taking place, though.
Aside from the festival, I loved the palace grounds. There is a 'Rapunzel's Castle' on the grounds, which lures in the little girls at the fest. It's a serene area of the palace's gardens; a bit on the quiet side, and less crowded. I enjoyed the flowers, sculptured hedges/bushes, and the architecture of the palace exterior. I would much rather go back on a day where a festival isn't taking place, though.
As for our family, we all voted, unbiased, and 6 out of 6 of us were not impressed with the festival. We can say we have done it, but honestly, it's nothing to write home about. HA. I just spent 15 minutes writing this post about it though...*facepalm*
In other words, we won't be attending a future Kurbis Fest. Maybe we just got really unlucky with the day we had visited, but I am not willing to have a redo day when I can be out enjoying something/somewhere else that this wonderful country has to offer. We've had more fun at pumpkin farms in America.
TIP: My ding-dong neighbors had first told us about this festival. The wife went on and on about it, and we saw them hop in (and then later on that evening, out of) their minivan dressed in Bavarian tracht, or traditional clothing the day they had went. DO NOT DO THIS without checking facts of the event you plan to attend first. If you're American and don't know better, just don't wear tracht.
No one was wearing dirndls or lederhose at this festival, just regular casual clothing (with the exception of that vine wearing dude in one of my above photos). I am guessing the neighbors felt really stupid when they visited and were probably laughed at by the German folks...
We finally headed home and could say that we had visited a festival in Germany! I caught an air balloon flying high over the autobahn on the way back, and was eager to pop open my bottle of pumpkin wine as soon as we stepped in our door. T'was nice to be home, and Kuribis Fest aside, I am excited to visit other festivals soon.
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