The Youth Garden Project’s eighth annual Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival will take over the soccer fields at Grand County High School on Saturday, Oct. 26, and the pumpkins will be flying.

In its first few years the festival was small, but it has steadily grown in popularity, says Delite Primus, YGP’s executive director.

“It was quite a bit smaller in participation, and we had fewer activities and vendors,” she said. “Basically everything has gotten bigger over the years.”

Last year, about 1,800 people attended the festival, which is one of the YGP’s biggest fundraisers each year, bringing in approximately $12,000 for the nonprofit.

This year will be the festival’s first year in its new location at the Grand County High School soccer fields, 608 South 400 East, but the festival won’t be much different from previous years, Primus said.

“We’ll have all of the same much-loved aspects of the festival,” she said. “We’ll still have wiener dog races, pony rides and tractor rides.”

Primus said many people have expressed concern about the effect the new location will have on the focus of the festival: the pumpkin chucking. Festival organizers have worked to ensure that element of the event will still be just as fun, she said.

“The chucking is still going to happen, and it’s still going to be safe,” Primus said.

Several teams have signed up to compete in the pumpkin chucking, and Primus has been talking to a few others.

Although the gourds flying through the air are the main focus of the event, additional activities, vendors and live performances on the center stage make it a true community festival.

“Every year we try to include more organizations,” Primus said. “We have lots of nonprofits with activity booths to help raise awareness about their organizations.”