Photo courtesy of Historic Hudson Valley
New attractions, new health precautions, and even new locations are in store for fans of Historic Hudson Valley’s most popular annual event.
For our complete guide to The Blaze, click here.
Fifteen years after its founding, Croton’s yearly Pumpkin Blaze is celebrating in a big way, even amidst a pandemic.
“We are fortunate and excited to be able to offer Blaze this year in two locations,” says Historic Hudson Valley’s VP of Communications and Commerce, Rob Schweitzer. “After months of isolation, people are eager to get out and enjoy safe experiences.”
The blaze is still very much on this year — it’s classified as a “low-risk” outdoor activity and is already entirely touchless — and should attract a good number of attendees, with a few new health policies in place to keep guests and staff safe:
- Capacity reduced by 67%
- Social distancing enforced
- Guests are asked to agree to a COVID Courtesy Code
- All staff and visitors older than 2 are required to wear masks
- No food or beverage options this year
- Plexiglass shielding for ticket scanners
- Rotating bathroom service to maintain cleanliness
- No on-site ticket sales; tickets must be purchased for a designated time slot in advance but may be exchanged for a new date/time with 72-hours’ notice.
New attractions this year include a brand-new, more detailed Headless Horseman, a coven of witches with their cauldron bubbling away, an homage to Hansel & Gretel, and even firefighters heroically rescuing a (presumably black) cat.
Also new this year is the unveiling of a new locations for the Blaze, in addition to its regular Croton-on-Hudson home. Historic Hudson Valley has partnered with Nassau County to open a Long Island iteration of the Blaze at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration site, even larger than the original’s Van Cortlandt Manor. The new site will sport a few LI landmarks much as Croton features the “Pumpkin Zee Bridge,” like a lighthouse and even a lunar module (developed there, apparently!).
While many of the area’s usual Halloween events this year just won’t be possible, it’s a comfort to know that the Blaze will once again be able to astound and delight with its more than 7,000 hand-carved pumpkins lighting up the night.
This year’s Blaze runs from September 18 through November 21 at Van Cortlandt Manor. Tickets start at $24.
