Jack-o’-Lanterns take over Descanso Gardens

For Halloween devotees, there is perhaps no better holiday icon than the jack-o’-lantern. Funny or scary, crude or complex, the carved creation is, for most, a glad harbinger of fall festivities to come.

And starting Friday, nighttime visitors to La Cañada’s Descanso Gardens will have a chance to see the humble jack-o’-lantern take center stage as the garden plays host to “RISE of the Jack o’ Lanterns,” a breathtaking display of thousands of gourd-inspired art pieces.

The walk-through display, set in Descanso’s rose garden, features more than 5,000 artist-carved jack-o’-lanterns, many handcrafted by sculptors and artists live on the scene.

For Descanso’s event, artists began carving in late September, says Thomas Olton, the event’s lead pumpkin carver. They will continue to create new jack-o’-lanterns throughout the month not only to entertain audiences but to keep the display fresh.

“The predominant reaction we get (from visitors) is disbelief, which I love,” Olton said. “It never occurs to them to try this.”

Far from what Olton calls jacks of the “triangle eyes, zig-zag mouth” variety, “RISE” is mostly made up of elaborately carved creations depicting famous sports figures, characters and celebrities. Others combine to form breathtaking large-scale displays, some of which were specially created for Descanso Gardens, according to organizers.

Throughout the 45-minute stroll, visitors of all ages are sure to find something they like, creators promise.

Now in its third year at New York’s Old Westbury Gardens, “RISE of the Jack o’ Lanterns” has drawn crowds of more than 100,000 visitors and garnered a reputation as a spectacular family-oriented Halloween event, says producer Debbi Katz.

Its rise in popularity (about 5,000 people were wait-listed for Friday and Saturday night shows last year, Katz says) got organizers thinking of how they might expand by offering a West Coast show.

The team scouted several locations throughout California before determining Descanso had all the right elements, from well-formed walkways and fencing to trees and natural outcroppings that could be used in the display.

“We really wanted a special place to make our debut in California, and I think we chose right,” Katz said.

The two organizations have been planning and preparing for more than a year. Together, they are partnering to spread the word about the West Coast debut of “RISE” and bring in more new members to Descanso from throughout Greater Los Angeles.

So far, the plan seems to be working.

More than 35,000 tickets to the event have been sold so far, according to Juliann Rooke, Descanso’s chief operating officer, with nearly 160 new memberships to the garden originating from the “RISE” website. The goal is to bring 77,000 visitors to the garden between Oct. 3 and Nov. 2.

“It’s very exciting. We’ve been talking about this for so long, I can’t believe it’s here,” Rooke said.

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Tickets to “RISE of the Jack o’ Lanterns” are available for advance purchase at https://www.therise.org. Prices range from $18 to 28, based on show dates and times, and must be ordered online. For more information, call (818) 639-8981.