New York 42 The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze 2026
Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson · Organized by Historic Hudson Valley
- Dates
- Sep 18, 2026 – Nov 8, 2026
- Format
- In person
- Where
- Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson
- Organizer
- Historic Hudson Valley
Seven thousand pumpkins, every one of them cut by hand, and the whole thing is lit only by what is inside them.
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze 2026 dates and times
18 September to 8 November 2026 at Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, New York. It is a production of Historic Hudson Valley, a not-for-profit educational organisation. Entry is by timed ticket.
What the Blaze is
An after-dark walk through the grounds of an 18th-century estate, past more than seven thousand illuminated jack-o'-lanterns arranged into sequences — a carousel, a bridge, a wall of faces. The carving is continuous through the run, because pumpkins do not last seven weeks.
New this year is Little Literary Lane, a section of hand-carved characters from fables, with a larger-than-life Big Bad Wolf among them. The Wizard of Oz and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Headless Horseman included, are on the trail too.
Getting there from the city
Croton-on-Hudson is on Metro-North's Hudson Line out of Grand Central. It is one of two Halloweens on this site outside New York City — the other is Sleepy Hollow, a few stops back down the same line — and the reason both are here anyway is that half the people in the queue came up from the city.
Two practical things. It is outdoors and it is after dark in the Hudson Valley in October, which by the end of the run means genuinely cold — the September and early-October slots are the comfortable ones, and the late-October slots are the ones that sell first anyway. And it is a walk on grass and gravel in the dark: the sequences are worth stopping in front of, so the hour it is billed at is closer to ninety minutes if you are not being moved along.
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze 2026: questions
When is the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in 2026?
From 18 September to 8 November 2026, at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.
How many pumpkins are there?
The organisers advertise more than 7,000 hand-carved, illuminated jack-o'-lanterns.
Who runs it?
Historic Hudson Valley, a not-for-profit educational organisation, which says the Blaze is supported by individual, foundation, corporate and government contributions.
Source: The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze checked against the source
