Launching pumpkins and new activities at Tucson's Fall Family Festival

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson's annual Fall family Festival spanned 12 hours across over the 150 acres of Reid Park Saturday, Nov. 16.

This year, they added several new activities created by members of the department. One stood out to a few attendees: the pumpkin catapult.

Attendees were invited to bring their own pumpkins left over from Halloween or use some of the Parks and Recreation-provided produce.

“It was so much fun,” said Allana Lopez. Her husband, Franki agreed, "just the feeling of that pumpkin flying through the air and the smash was amazing.”

The Lopezes spent much of Saturday at Reid Park for the Fall Family Festival, starting with the Turkey Trot at 7:30 a.m., but the catapult was their favorite.

“Everything else was just extra, like the only thing I wanted to of today was catapult,” Allana said.

This year's festival wasn't only the catapult's debut, but a debut for the device's creators. This was the first time the park maintenance crews were "fully involved" with the festival.

Park Service Supervisor Caleb Martinez says that it took the team spent three days building the device, which was designed to hold eight to ten pound pumpkins.

However, they ended up launching some bigger, along with some gourds, watermelons and squash. The parks team members did most of the set up, but the final strong was pulled by festival guests.

“Our original plan was to have staff do it," Martinez said. "But we had such a line of kids that having them actually pull the pin and launch it would be much more enjoyable for them."

The Parks Department director, Lara Hamwey says that they plan to hold festival again next year and may include some of the new activities, though admits there's a lot to learn from the 2024 event.