In search of a great pumpkin

Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Oct. 9, 14-15: Half Moon Bay takes on an orange glow when the Art & Pumpkin Festival brings a bumper crop of gourds, with truly hulking specimens in competition at the Oct. 9 weigh-off. Defending champ Joel Holland, of Puyallup, Wash., nabbed top honors in 2005 with a 1,229-pound beast. (Winners get $5 a pound.) The two-day festival also has pumpkin patches, carvers, a haunted house, a parade, foot-stomping music and plenty of fare high in beta-carotene.

Weigh-off 7:30-11 a.m. Oct. 9; festival 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 14-15. Free. All activities on Main Street in downtown Half Moon Bay. (650) 726-9652, www.miramarevents.com.

Ketchum, Idaho

Oct. 13-15: The tapping you hear will be the patter of 8,000 tiny hoofs when the Trailing of the Sheep Festival brings a herd down Ketchum’s Main Street. Bagpipers, drummers and Basque dancers will accompany the Oct. 15 parade. The region’s Basque heritage, with lots of music and storytelling, is the focus this year. Tales won’t be the only thing spun, though. On Oct. 14, artisans demonstrate shearing, carding, spinning and weaving at the Folklife Fair, where Basque dances and cooking will be taught. A guided walk into Neal Canyon will show visitors century-old sheepherder tree carvings.

“Sheep Tales,” 7 p.m. Oct. 14, Next Stage Theater, 210 N. Main St.. Sheep Folklife Fair, 10:30 a.m. a.m.-4 p.m., Roberta McKercher Park, Hailey, Idaho. Parade noon Oct. 15, Main Street, Ketchum. Most events free. (800) 634-3347, www.trailingofthesheep.org.

Vancouver, Canada

Oct. 17-22: Granville Island, the little Vancouver peninsula, becomes overloaded with folks of a literary bent during the International Writers and Readers Festival. More than 90 writers -- such notables as Australia’s Kate Grenville, Mary Lawson of Canada, England’s Jon McGregor and Iraqi-born poet Saadi Youssef -- and about 11,000 of their fans gather. There are 60 events over six days. Among highlights: the Literary Cabaret, which mixes literature and music; the Poetry Bash, a night of spoken-word performances; author discussions that include tea and scones or croissants and champagne.

At various locations in Vancouver, most on Granville Island. Events $6-$20. (604) 681-6330, www.writersfest.bc.

-- Amy Hubbard

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