(Trevor Eggleton and his family have continued the tradition of a Stittsville Pumpkin Parade since 2013, with the exception of 2020 when COVID prevented the event from taking place. Photo: Trevor Eggleton, 2014)
Trevor Eggleton introduced the Stittsville Pumpkin Parade in 2013 for the community to exhibit their Jack-o’-lantern carving talents and share the Halloween spirit the evening after the eerie night. With the exception of a hiatus in 2020, when COVID prevented the event from taking place, the Eggleton family has continued to bring this community staple to Village Square Park and always on November 1st.
When the Eggleton family moved to Stittsville from British Columbia, Trevor introduced this evening of eerie and says, “As for this (2026) being my last year, I started this whole thing on a whim to do something for Stittsville. Being a smaller community it felt possible to come up with an event and be supported in making it work. And that was the case from day one.”
“I had so many people step forward to help make it a success. My kids, Kaya and Lilia, were 4 and 6. At that time, Lilia and I thought it would be a fun thing for us to do together, but more than that I wanted them to see how anyone can do things to make their community a better place. I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I’d never been to a pumpkin parade let alone hosted one. I guess sometimes you have to just jump and hope you land okay.”
Trevor will be losing his dedicated assistants – his daughters, so it is time to invite another family to experience and adopt the tradition. “My older daughter wasn’t able to help last year because she’s away at university and my younger one will be gone next year, so it’ll be just me and a big part of the joy of it for me has been doing it with my kids. So I figure it’s time to pass it along and I’m honestly curious to see what someone else can do with it. Keep it the same or build it into something greater.”
The Stittsville Pumpkin Parade has been presented to the same degree over the years. Carved Jack-o’-lanterns can be dropped off at Village Square Park starting at 5:00pm on November 1st. Each pumpkin will be lit up with an electric candle provided by Trevor and his team. They will be assembled throughout the park for visitors to meander through the maze enjoying the many talented carvers starting at 7:00pm. Residents can also vote for their favourite carving in both a kids and adults category with donated prizes from local businesses being given to the winners.
Donations will be accepted to support the Stittsville Food Bank and a local Scout Troup will be selling hot chocolate to keep you warm as you view all of the pumpkins.
Being environmentally conscious, the pumpkins will be given to local pig farms so the animals can enjoy the fruits of the evening thanks to Eco West Enders. Trevor thanks Lorianne Luedey from Byrne Insurance Agency for providing the event’s insurance coverage.
With regard to finding a young family to continue the tradition, Trevor shared, “My initial thought has been giving it to a young family so they can have the experience that we had with it, but I hope that whomever takes it on will keep it going. So I’m open to possibilities.”
We look forward to continuing our tradition of viewing all of the wonderfully carved pumpkins and sharing photos with our community.
