Despite record crowds during last year’s Morton Pumpkin Festival, chamber officials are seeking an even larger number of guests — from other communities.
Through billboards, Facebook ads and radio spots, Morton Chamber of Commerce officials hope to garner additional visitors to this year’s Pumpkin Festival.
On top of commercial and advertising spots, the chamber is hosting a video contest where festival goers create a video about five minutes in length that promotes the festival in a creative way.
“We want something that has the potential to go viral,” said Jennifer Daly, executive director of the Morton Chamber of Commerce. “It’s about promoting the festival. I think it’s such a cool idea.”
The idea was proposed by Joani Ellis of Ellis Studios. The graphic design company will be a sponsor of the contest. The chosen winner will receive $300.
The winning video will be used in promotional efforts online and could even be used in potential television commercials, Daly said.
The chamber has also slated about eight billboards throughout Central Illinois to promote the festival.
“We’re really trying to do some additional marketing for the festival,” Daly said.
“Mortonites already know all about the festival,” she said. “The goal is to capture those outside of Morton that are not always thinking about the Pumpkin Festival.
To market in Morton would be to preach to the choir. As events leading up to the festival continue throughout the next two weeks, Mortonites are already aware of what is going on and where they need to be, Daly said.
“In the past, we have forgotten that folks in surrounding communities are not here to see all that,” she said. “We’re trying to do a better job of making sure people remember.”
Accommodating space
To handle a potential bump in festival attendance, the Morton Chamber of Commerce has planned this year’s festival layout to improve upon last year’s efforts to expand festival grounds.
“A lot of changes we’re making are designed to accommodate larger crowds,” Daly said.
The craft show has been moved behind Main Street Deli and Envision (formerly Heiser) Insurance on Main Street. This will allow the grounds to handle more people, particularly on Saturday, which is typically the busiest day during the festival.
More changes to food lines are also in store to reduce waiting periods for festival guests to purchase and eat food.
“We can’t rapidly serve all the people that want to eat and drink,” she said. “We are going to try something different to reduce food lines.”
