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Russ Sears, a Crete resident, has been busy growing at least 200 pumpkins and recently painted a giant pumpkin mural with other local volunteers for this year's Crete Pumpkin Festival.

"I just believe in the community. It's just a fun activity," Sears said. "It's something that brings the community together."

The annual festival is a weekend's worth of pumpkin carving, carnival games, hayrack rides, a pie-eating contest, arts and car show. The three-day event starts Oct. 4 and continues into the evening of Oct. 6. 

There will be a dinner fundraiser with the proceeds will go toward a scholarship for local high school students on the first night. The next morning, the festival will continue with a pancake feed and a Mayor's fun run, and on the last day attendees can participate in pumpkin carving and a pie-eating contest.

The first festival, which was held in 2014, drew about 750 people. That number grew to 2,000 last year, Sears said, and this year he's hoping for more than 3,000.

The festival continues to become a local fall tradition is because of community efforts, Sears said.

Volunteers, like students from Crete High School and Doane University, residents, local organizations and businesses have supported and sponsored the festival, organizing its contests, games and logistics. 

“It wouldn’t be possible without everyone volunteering,� said Sam Barley, a Crete Chamber of Commerce board member.

The event has also helped local businesses and revitalized Crete's downtown by bringing more people into town, Barley said. 

“We really want something that Crete could hang its hat on," she said. "We want a festival that Crete is known for."

As the citywide celebration continues to grow each year, Barley said she hopes it continues to bring people together to celebrate a new season. 

“We hope that we can bring all sorts of different people to the festival. Crete is a very diverse community," Barley said. " We’ve gotten engagement from different people and we can continue to hope to get engagement from everyone."

For more activities and schedule information, visit .