The time has come for pumpkins to take over Main Street in Damariscotta.

The seventh annual Damariscotta Pumpkin Festival and Regatta might have started earlier in the week, but on Friday, Oct. 11, the Twin Villages were humming.

After several dozen pumpkins were unloaded throughout town on October 10, the next day saw artists chiseling, chipping, sewing, painting and carving pumpkins in advance of the weekends’ activities.

Wiscasset’s Mike Blagdon could be found alongside his father, John, and son Payton carving away at what would eventually become a lion.

“I think this is the largest of the carving pumpkins,” Mike Blagdon said. “When you’re working with a pumpkin this big, you need to make sure you’re bold.”

Blagdon said the minute details that are afforded smaller pumpkins are cast aside when the canvas weighs in at more than half a ton.

Further down the line, in front of Fernald’s Country Store, the family team of Minda Gold, Jonah and Jacques Vesery painted and tweaked their massive gourd.

With piping like Victorian-era plumbing jutting out from the pumpkin and gold paint, knobs and switches, Gold called the pumpkin “Steampumpkin,” after the steampunk aesthetic.

For the full schedule and updates from the event, click here.