The Great Pumpkin Beer Festival returned to its roots at the Capitol Hill Elysian Pub. 2025 marks the 21st iteration of the locally beloved festival. Part carnival, part community ritual, and part concert, this years pumpkin fest did not disappoint. The festival ran from October 3 & 4th this year and featured 60+ pumpkin and seasonal beers from local and national breweries. Featuring live music from local bands, options from popular area food trucks, a costume contest, as well as the giant pumpkin keg tapping. For those who aren’t familiar with the ritual, a giant pumpkin is hollowed out and scorched (to sterilize) and then filled with pumpkin beer. The pumpkin is resealed and then tapped during the event! The great pumpkin tapping concludes when the pumpkin is drained. Ultimately the empty giant pumpkin keg is pushed off of its pedestal and smashed to roaring applause!
R90 Lighting helped illuminate this great local gourd-gathering and we made it glow from stem to stern. We are un-boo-lievably thankful to our client, Connors and Co, for entrusting us with carving into the Halloween spirit. Go big or gourd home is our motto and we kept it glowing until the last pour!
R90 Lighting’s PM for this event was the multi-talented Rachid Schultz, who oversaw everything from the conception to execution of the lighting designs. R90’s lead tech for this build was Dwight Upton and the LD for the Stage/Altar was Kegan Manker. Additionally, we had our very own mad-scientist, Joe Cole, operating the food court custom gobo effects projected from our brand new Elation Paragon M fixtures.
The festival lighting package included the following gear from our expansive inventory:
Elation Paragon M
Acme Pixel Line IP
Elation Sixpar 300IP
Chauvet Ovation E-260WW IP LEDko
ADJ Encore LP7IP
Elation KL Panel XL IP
Elation Paladin Panel
Elation Proteus Rayzor 760
Eliminator Stryker Max
Robe Pointe
Chauvet Cumulus HP
Chauvet Geyser P7
Antari F-5 Fazer
Antari 1500 Series 2 Fogger
grandMA 3 Lite (stage)
ChamSys MQ50 (scenic Paragon M)
Obsidian Netron EN4
Obsidian Netron EN12
Obsidian Netron RDM6
Some additional shout outs to our pumpkin patch partners in production:
Audio provided by: Carlson Audio
Staging provided by: Put A Stage On It
As the Great Pumpkin met its glorious, beer-soaked demise, R90 Lighting wrapped up another glowing chapter in Seattle’s fall folklore. With a few tricks, plenty of treats, and a whole lot of pumpkin pride, R90 Lighting was thrilled to help conjure the glow for Elysian’s pumpkin-powered spectacle. Here’s to keeping the glow alive until next year’s rise of the Great Pumpkin!
Check out some choice shots from the event below:
