At a pumpkin festival near Berlin, powerful women take shape – one gourd at a time

Pumpkins are the undisputed star of the show at Clasto Farms berlin,

More than 100,000 pumpkins in various shapes and colors are placed on shelves throughout the farm and along its winding paths – 500 different varieties from around the world, each labeled with its name and origin.

The giant pumpkin festival on the farm 56 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of the German capital, now taking place for the 22nd time, has become so popular that it attracts more than 12,000 visitors on weekends and 5,000 on weekdays.

This year it includes 15 larger-than-life pumpkin sculptures and a variety of sweet and savory food offerings – all made from pumpkins.

Pumpkins come from the farm’s own pumpkin patch and from around the world.

The festival began in 2004 more Germans Adopting the American tradition of Halloween. Within a few years it became common for Germans to have carved pumpkins in their yards, for children to go trick-or-treating, and for young adults to have fun in flamboyant costumes at parties.

The theme of the first exhibition was how the pumpkin came to be. EuropeAntje Winkelmann, who co-runs the family farm, said it was “a great topic, because it came from America to Europe.”

“Christopher Columbus brought it with him, and we recreated the ship that Christopher Columbus traveled on and told the whole story,” he said.

After exploring various topics in the last 21 years, this year is all about women power.

Winkelmann said, “We had sports, we had ancient Rome, we had the Alps and mountains and the world of stars and planets. And now it really felt like it was time for women to have subjects.”

She looked at lists of famous women, she said, and then chose a few “based on what would be easy to present, what would be attractive.”

Mexican artists also included among winners Frida KahloThe beloved fictional Swedish book character Pippi Longstocking, and the ancient Egyptian Cleopatra – all of them, of course, are created from colorful pumpkins.

“We realized that there really were and are a lot of amazing women out there,” Winkelman said.

On a recent day, families explored the sprawling farm, strolling past a towering Marge Simpson, her hair made of dozens of brown, round winter squash, her dress made of tiny orange pumpkins. Nearby was Elsa from the kids’ all-time favorite movie, “Frozen,” wearing a pale yellow pumpkin.

The famous German automotive pioneer, Bertha Benz, sat in an early model car Mercedes, the wheels of which were decorated with orange winter squash, just like her long skirt.

Gesine Struppert, who visited the farm with her young daughter from the town of Wittenberg, said she was inspired to create new pumpkin dishes at home and was impressed by the sculptures.

“It’s so crazy,” she said.

There were 30 different types of pumpkins for sale, both edible and decorative, and many pumpkin recipes.

“Of course, pumpkin is on the menu, too,” Winkelman said. “We’ve got pumpkin and chicken coated with pumpkin sauce. We have pumpkin tarte flambé, pumpkin creme brulee, all kinds of things with pumpkin, so you can try them. And in our bakery, of course, pumpkin is also in the spotlight, with pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed bread, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cream slices.”

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Fanny Brodersen contributed to this report.