It may seem hard to believe, but the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival returns to the village’s streets this week.

As we reported on the front page of today’s newspaper, the 61st annual rendition of this Belmont County tradition opens on Thursday and continues through next Sunday. True pumpkin enthusiasts will join in the action a day earlier, participating in or watching the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Wednesday evening. Records — both state and national — are set at that event year after year.

If you want to start celebrating even earlier, you can turn out at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, to watch as the Eyes of Freedom Motorcade escorts the traveling patriotic display from Interstate 70 to Barnesville Middle School, where it will remain until the festival ends.

People from all parts of the region — and even many who have moved some distance away — visit the village during this annual festival that started out in the basement of a church. Today, it transforms a community of fewer than 5,000 people into a bustling hub of activity that attracts more than 100,000 people each year.

Whether you enjoy the live music offered in the evenings, the wide variety of food vendors, the dozens of crafters and artisans with items on display or the incredible examples of agricultural success, there is something at the festival for you. There are also a number of contest, including a talent show, hog calling, tobacco spitting and beard and mustache contests that visitors can watch or participate in.

Other attractions include a car show, farm tractor display, the Giant Pumpkin Parade on Saturday afternoon and, of course, the members of the royal pumpkin court who are on hand throughout the festival to perform official duties and greet guests.

Kudos and congratulations to the many devoted Pumpkin Festival Committee members who make this event a reality for the community each year.