TIM WEIGHT/FOR THE EXPRESS A trebuchet and the Chunk’n-ology air cannon are pictured at Bald Eagle State Park during last year’s Punkin’ Chunkin’ event.

TIM WEIGHT/FOR THE EXPRESS
Some of the many vendor tents and food trucks are pictured at last year’s Punkin’ Chunkin’ event.

HOWARD — Howard Fire Company will be having its 15th annual Punkin Chunkin Festival at Bald Eagle State Park today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Punkin’ Chunkin’ is the art (and sport!) of launching pumpkins through the air using catapults, trebuchets and other engineered contraptions. Each year, teams from near and far show off their custom-built machines and send pumpkins soaring over the lake at Bald Eagle State Park.

This year the Howard Fire Company is expecting several other pumpkin chunking teams to travel to Howard for this event. The fire company also has an air cannon known as “Chunk’n-ology” that will be launching pumpkins throughout the day, too.

The festival began in 2011 and drew more than 9,000 people to the state park to see, some for the very first-time, what Punkin Chunkin was all about. The festival certainly is a draw for people to spend an autumn day outdoors watching something that you don’t normally see around Centre County.

This outdoor fall festival event is free for admission and there is no charge for parking. Firemen will be positioned in traffic control exit lanes holding donation boots for attendees to drop a donation into the boots. The festival is a fundraiser that the fire company uses and relies on each year to fulfill their budget obligations. It will hopefully be a nice, rain-free day so that people will venture out and support the fire company in this way.

To avoid traffic congestion, since there’s only one way in and out of Bald Eagle State Park, please watch for the fire police on duty and use the following driving instructions for Route 150:

— If you’re coming up from Beech Creek (Southbound on SR 150) you should take the Hunter Run and Schenk’s Grove roads to enter.

— Those coming Northbound (from Milesburg) should get off onto the shoulder of the roadway once you get to the Causeway/Howard Divide intersection with Route 26. By getting off on the shoulder of the road this will allow people that are going to Beech Creek and Lock Haven to be able to continue straight through without having to wait in line behind those who may be waiting to get into the park entrance.

Keep in mind that you’ll want to bring a hoodie or jacket since the temperature next to the water, and with the breeze coming off the lake, will make it feel a bit cooler than you might expect.

The weather man is predicting a sunny fall day with temperatures in the high 60s. You may want to bring an umbrella (just in case) and lawn chairs along as well so you can enjoy the 2025 Punkin Chunkin Festival.

The Punkin Chunkin Festival is a one-day event that runs from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. with pumpkins being launched all day, about every 15 minutes or so, and the food and craft vendors will be there all day, too!

There’s hay rides through the park that will allow the whole family to take in the fall colors of the trees surrounding the lake.

A Black Hawk helicopter is expected to touch down that folks will be allowed to see up close. Emergency equipment will also be on display during the day. A pie-eating contest is planned for 2:30 p.m. Commemorative T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts for this year’s event will be on sale, too.