NH Pumpkin Fest Breaks World Record
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Careful attention to onerous rules helped Keene, N.H., once again break the world record for the most lit jack-o'-lanterns.
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The Guinness Book of World Records confirmed that 30,581 carved and lit pumpkins were displayed Saturday night, topping the record of 30,128 pumpkins set by Boston in 2006.
Ruth Sterling, owner of the festival's management company, says the Guinness folks are sticklers, but festival organizers work hard to comply. That means rejecting pumpkins that don't appear to have been "intentionally designed" and not counting those that don't stay lit during the five-minute judging period.
Started in 1991, the Keene Pumpkin Festival netted its first world record in 1993 with fewer than 5,000 pumpkins. In recent years, it's had a friendly competition with Highwood, Ill., which lit 28,036 pumpkins this year.
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