When Should You Carve Pumpkins In Bismarck-Mandan

Every fall, we have a few debates that surface: What's the best Halloween movie? Is candy corn awesome or the most disgusting thing ever? How old is too old to go trick-or-treating?

There's one other debate, or maybe we should call it a Halloween dilemma.

When is the appropriate time to carve your pumpkins in Bismarck-Mandan? I posted this question on Facebook to see what you had to say about it. It appears there are two schools of thought on this: one, that you should wait until a week before Halloween, and two, that you can do it as early as the first week of October.

North Dakotans Chime In

Let's break this down.

Many of you said it is best to wait until right before Halloween, because then the pumpkins won't be all rotten, gross, and saggy by the time Halloween rolls around.

That's true, but if you wait too long to get pumpkins from the store or the pumpkin patch, you might find it challenging to get ones that are the right shape or size. Some places might even sell out.

Those of you who said you can carve early in the month of October expressed that you have no problem carving pumpkins more than once throughout spooky season, and I love your festive attitude!

I'd also argue that in North Dakota, pumpkins take a lot longer to rot. The cold temps usually do a pretty good job of preserving the pumpkins.

Funny enough, a couple of you commented on the post that you can start carving pumpkins in September. I'm not sure if that was a joke, but hey, you do you -- carve your heart out! Wait, that sounds terrible; don't carve any hearts out this Halloween season. Oops.

According to Yahoo.com, the best time to carve pumpkins in cooler climates is 7 to 10 days before Halloween (October 21st), but I say do whatever tickles your fancy.

Not Up For Carving This Year?

If you're not a big fan of carving pumpkins, which I understand, it's a goopy, gross mess. You can always do something different and a little crafty.

(Also Read: Pink Pumpkins For a Purpose 225: Help Raise Money For the Bismarck Cancer Center)

We are bringing back Pink Pumpkins for a Purpose for its second year. You paint your pumpkin PINK, and upload a picture of it to the Hot 97.5 app. For every picture uploaded, we will donate $2 to the Bismarck Cancer Center Foundation. You have the whole month of October to upload your photos. Fun, right?!

If you're curious about this and want some inspiration, take a look at some of the pictures we received last year.