LACONIA — When the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival first came to the city in 2015, downtown was struggling, with about half of the storefronts vacant and the Colonial Theatre closed.

Eight years later, downtown is vibrant and the Colonial is hosting both national acts and theater productions. Meanwhile, the festival has grown.

That’s part of the reasoning provided by the Lakes Region Chamber, which organizes Pumpkinfest, for moving the festival from downtown. This year’s festival, Oct. 25-26, will be headquartered at Weirs Beach.

Karmen Gifford, chamber president, said the time had come for Pumpkinfest to find a new space.

“We did a lot of listening,” Gifford said. “If we want to grow, we’ve reached our maximum, space-wise, but we have also grown downtown.” Much of the downtown parking lots were taken up by vendors or street closures, yet City Hall had to conduct its business on the Friday of the festival, the Colonial Theatre still scheduled shows, and the Congregational Church held its regular services on Sunday morning, which put constraints on how much space the festival could occupy, and how long vendors could have access to that space.

“It makes more sense for our growth to bring [the festival] to Lakeside Avenue” at Weirs Beach, which is typically in off-season mode by late October.

Gifford anticipated being able to provide all of the hallmark experiences of the NH Pumpkin Festival — food vendors, jack-o’-lantern displays and amusement rides — at Weirs Beach. She said there is also the chance to add new elements.

“There’s opportunities to do things on the pier, there’s opportunities for things on the boardwalk,” Gifford said, and she is already in conversation with the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad and the Mount Washington Cruises companies, both of which already have a presence in Weirs Beach, to see how those operations could add to the experience.

Increasingly, hosting the event downtown has taken a toll, largely in terms of Gifford’s time, trying to find ways to fit the festival into the downtown footprint without stepping on anyone else’s toes.

“There were a lot of touchpoints and engagements” to keep various partners informed, Gifford said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked and measured the City Hall parking lot.”

In recent years, the time necessary to put on the Pumpkin Festival has pulled her away from the chamber’s mission of developing a workforce for local industries. She expects to gain much of that time back, as it will be easier to locate the festival at Weirs Beach.

Gifford envisions a block-party environment at the Weirs, with Lakeside Avenue, the same stretch of road that’s packed with bikes every year for Laconia Motorcycle Week, closed to vehicle traffic and lined on each side with food trucks and vendors, the center lane filled with a zig-zagging display of carved pumpkins.

Gifford also has her eyes on the parking lot for the beach, which she said could be a suitable site for larger amusement rides, such as a ferris wheel.

She emphasized that she sees Lakeside Avenue as the “headquarters” for a festival that could broaden to include activities outside of the Weirs. Meredith, Alton Bay and, yes, downtown Laconia, are all welcome to organize their own activities, and she said she’d be happy to promote them all.

“The mission of the chamber is to support the region, we’re a regional chamber,” she noted.

“One of my goals, starting this early, is to start hearing from people and doing some outreach,” said Gifford. She endeavors to enhance the experience of the festival-goers, while also engaging with more businesses.

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Anthony Santagate, owner of Tower Hill Tavern and The Big House, both nightlife-style businesses in Weirs Beach, said he’d be “tickled pink” if Pumpkin Festival moved to his end of the city. He’s been working for years to expand the business season of Weirs Beach, which traditionally didn’t start until Memorial Day and wrapped up by Labor Day. He’s been pushing that envelope on both ends, partnering with neighboring businesses to host block parties during both the spring and fall.

He said he plans to schedule his “Wicked Weirs” party to coincide with Pumpkin Festival.

Not everyone was a fan of the move, though.

“I’m disappointed, quite frankly, that it’s moving there when it was so tremendously successful downtown,” said Mayor Andrew Hosmer, calling the 2023 festival in particular a “rousing success.”

Hosmer said he didn’t want to “get behind pitting one part of the city against another,” and said he would support positive activity no matter where it happened in Laconia, but he felt the festival’s proper home was downtown.

“I know a number of businesses down there saw a tremendous benefit,” Hosmer said. “That made it a special weekend.”

City Manager Kirk Beattie said the possibility of such a move had been discussed among city officials for a couple of months, and the consensus of City Council seemed to be it should remain a downtown festival.

Hosmer said he saw the move as a loss for downtown.

“The city has made a massive investment in downtown. The reason we do this is because we knew it would have a positive economic impact. Pulling this out of downtown lessens the impact that we’ve been working very hard to create,” Hosmer said. “Let’s face it, Pumpkinfest was a banner day, a banner weekend for these people.”

He said the city is well versed in hosting street festivals.

“There’s a bit of a disconnect,” Hosmer said, adding that he’s “happy to continue the conversation with Karmen and with the Chamber of Commerce.”

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