The Pumpkin Parade in Parkdale's Sorauren Park started 3 years ago with 30 carved pumpkins people brought from around the neighbourhood. This year the park was filled with 1300 orange orbs, doubling last year's record, and creating a bit of a carving competition.

I was surprised when friends had asked me over the day before Hallowe'en to help carve their pumpkin. Three hours, three knives and two power tools later we had our masterpiece. When the day came for the "parade" we lit up our large pumpkin among the others, feeling full of pride, but by the time we'd toured the park, pumpkin envy took over. All we kept saying were things like: "Next year we'll get an even bigger one!" and "If we spent some more time on it we could have the best one here!".

To illustrate to you how amazing the designs were I've pulled nine of my top picks for a flickr slideshow after the jump.

My absolute favourite, the gasping girl, is shown last.