So… what exactly are we doing?
One street. One very unhinged Saturday.
We love a normal Saturday at Unhinged. Unfortunately, we have absolutely no interest in having one on Halloween. So we're taking over First Ave and turning it into a full-blown fall festival.
Come wander through local vendors, grab a drink, bring the kids for storytime, carve a pumpkin, bake us your best pie, put the dog in an unnecessarily elaborate costume, or just show up and watch everyone else compete for cash and bragging rights.
Come in costume. Bring the dog. Stay for twenty minutes or stay all day.
Attending is completely free, but we won't be upset if you get a coffee while you're here.
9–3
Six hours on First Ave
3
Contests to get competitive about
PRIZES
In cash + gift cards up for grabs
FREE
To walk in and hang out
The plan, give or take a few minutes
Here's how the day unfolds
Times are close but not gospel. We are putting pumpkins, children, dogs, pie and a few hundred people on one street, so give us a little grace. If you're competing, arrive a few minutes early. If you're just here to watch, wander in whenever.
- 9:00 AMAll dayGates openFirst Ave is officially ours. Vendors are open, the coffee is flowing, and the Halloween nonsense begins.
- 9:00–11:00 AMPie contestPie drop-offHand over your masterpiece, get your number, and walk away mysteriously. Baker names stay hidden until judging is over.
- 9:30 AMStorytimeSpooky storytimeA little Halloween moment for our littlest festival-goers. Cute spooky, not nightmare spooky. Costumes encouraged.
- 9:30 AM–1:45 PMPumpkin carvingPumpkin carving wavesSix waves. Six carvers at a time. Thirty minutes on the clock. May the best gourd win.
- 11:30 AMPie contestPie judgingOur judges disappear with your pies and make some extremely important decisions.
- 12:00 PMPie contestPie winners announcedFirst, second, and third place get their moment. Please prepare your acceptance speech accordingly.
- 12:15–1:15 PMCostume contestCostume contestKids, pets, teens, then adults. Four categories, back to back, with winners called after each one.
- 2:00 PMPumpkin carvingPeople's Choice voting closesLast call. You've stared at the pumpkins long enough, pick a favorite.
- 2:00–2:25 PMPumpkin carvingPumpkin judgingSix categories, judged at the display wall. The judges deliberate. The pumpkins sweat.
- 2:30 PMPumpkin carvingPumpkin winners announcedSix categories. Six winners. $100 each. Eternal pumpkin glory.
- 3:00 PMAll dayFestival closesGrab a drink and shop the vendors on your way out. We give First Ave back and start thinking about next year.
- Starts 9:30 AM
- Made for the little ones
- Costumes extremely encouraged
Local makers, all day long
Come for the chaos. Shop the local vendors.
Local makers take over two spots for the whole festival: the alleyway beside the shop and inside First & Main. Handmade, small-batch, zero chain stores, and a very real chance you walk out holding something you did not plan on buying.
Outside
The alleyway
Tents down the alley beside Unhinged, right in the middle of everything. Close enough to the carving tables that you can shop and spectate at the same time.
Inside
First & Main
More makers set up indoors at First & Main, so there's somewhere warm to browse, a second full row of tables, and a break from standing in a parking lot.
Do you have a small business? We want you on the block! Fill out the form below and tell us what you make.
319 N First Ave · Knightdale, NC
12:15–1:15 PM · Free to enter
Four categories, back to back, each judged by a six-person panel. Winners are called right after their category, so nobody stands around waiting. Free to enter, and you can always turn up in normal clothes and just watch.
Every category: 1st place $25, 2nd place $15. No preregistration. Just show up at the host table before your category begins and get your number.
You think your pie is that good? Prove it.
Bake your best pie at home and bring it to us Halloween morning. Any pie, any flavor, any level of grandma-secret-recipe intensity. Entry is $25, judging is blind, and there's $175 in prizes waiting for the three pies our judges cannot stop thinking about.
$100
First place
$50
Second place
$25
Third place
One important food thing: the pies are for judging, not serving. Health rules mean we can't hand slices out afterward, so once judging is over, your pie heads home with you. More leftovers for you.
Pumpkin carving contest · Adults 18+ · $40 entry
This is the main event. Six carving waves, six carvers per wave, thirty minutes to turn an innocent pumpkin into something worth cash, glory and a lot of staring. We provide the pumpkin, the table and the tools. You bring the confidence.
6
Carving waves
6
Carvers per wave
30
Minutes on the clock
$600
Across six categories
How this works
Pick your wave
Six waves, six carvers each. Pick the one that fits your day and show up ten minutes early.
Wave 1
9:30 AM
Wave 2
10:15 AM
Wave 3
11:00 AM
Wave 4
11:45 AM
Wave 5
12:30 PM
Wave 6
1:15 PM
What your $40 gets you
A pumpkin
Pick your own off the pile when you check in. Big, tall, lumpy, your call.
Your own carving station
A table, a chair, and thirty minutes of uninterrupted pumpkin destruction.
Tools and a scoop
Everything you need to get in there. Bring your own favorite tools if you have them.
Thirty minutes on the clock
The timer starts when your wave does and everyone hears it. Tools down when it hits zero.
Six ways to win $100
Every pumpkin is eligible for every category, and one pumpkin can take more than one.
Good to know
Carving is 18+ only. The knives are sharp and we enjoy keeping everyone's fingers attached.
Battery lights only. No open flames anywhere on the block.
Finished pumpkins stay on display until judging wraps. People's Choice voting closes at 2:00 PM, judging runs 2:00 to 2:25 PM, and winners are announced at 2:30 PM.
After that, take your masterpiece home and force your neighbors to admire it.
Claim a carving spot
36 spots. That's it. When they're gone, they're gone.
The "wait, what about…" section
A few things before you show up
Where is this happening?
319 N First Ave, Knightdale. We're taking over the block: alleyway, front lot, and inside First & Main.
Do I need a ticket?
Nope. Walking in, shopping vendors, watching contests, and generally existing on First Ave are completely free. You only pay if you enter the pie or pumpkin carving contests.
Can I bring the kids?
Absolutely. Spooky Storytime starts at 9:30 AM and the kids costume contest starts at 12:15 PM. Pumpkin carving is 18+ because knives, children and a timed competition felt like a questionable combination.
Can I bring my dog?
Please do. Leashed and with you the whole time. There's even a pet costume category at 12:30 PM, so consider this your warning to start planning.
Should I wear a costume?
It's Halloween morning. We'd honestly be a little disappointed if nobody did. Costumes are encouraged; entering the contest is completely optional.
What if it rains?
Late October in North Carolina likes to keep us humble. If weather becomes an issue, we'll post updates on Instagram the morning of the festival.
The people helping us pull this off
Our sponsors made this happen.
Taking over a street, filling it with pumpkins and handing out cash does not happen by accident. A huge thank-you to the local businesses backing Fall on First Ave.
First & Main
For letting us turn their space into Halloween headquarters for the day.
James Family Farm
For growing the pumpkins we are about to hand to 36 people with knives.
Want your business in on this?
Sponsorships keep Fall on First Ave free to attend and make the prizes worth fighting over. Built for small and local businesses, because we would much rather cover First Ave in names people already know.
- Logo on the festival webpage
- Social shout-out across event posts
- Logo on day-of signage
- Thank-you during announcements
- Everything in Porch Light
- Your business named on a contest category
- Table at the festival to meet the crowd
- Dedicated social post before the event
- Logo on winners announcements
Something else in mind? Donate a prize, sponsor a whole contest, bring a food truck, or pitch us something weird. Send it over.
Volunteer. Come help run the day.
Six hours, three contests and thirty-six pumpkins, on a street full of vendors, costumes, kids and dogs. Somewhere in there a few hundred people are going to ask where they are supposed to go. We could use a few extra hands.
Run the contests
Check people in, hand out numbers, keep the carving waves moving, and occasionally tell grown adults their thirty minutes are up.
Keep things moving
Set up in the morning, point people where they need to go, restock, and handle all the unglamorous things that make an event actually work.
Be a judge
We need people willing to stare seriously at pumpkins, pies and costumes and treat it like the enormous responsibility it is.
Tell us when you're free and what sounds fun. We'll match you with something useful and send you the details before the big day.