Hannah Jewell's Blog

Fall is in the air and all of the autumn activities are moving in full swing, specifically at Niko’s Red Mill Tavern. (*)

The bar and restaurant hosted its sixth annual pumpkin chucking festival last Saturday on October 15.

Bands, food and drinks, and pumpkin chucking contests are just a few of the fall festivities that occurred at Niko’s, located at 1040 Lake Ave, Woodstock, Illinois.

Pumpkin chucking was the main event, taking place in the bar’s back yard.

After paying a $15 entrance fee, players paid a $5 sign-up fee to participate throwing 10 plus pound pumpkins over a bar. After each throw going above or over the bar, the bar would rise half a foot. The bar maxed out at 27 feet.

Each contestant would have three tries to make it pass the bar. The top three winners would move on to the championship.

The adults league began at 3 p.m. The championship round was held at 9:30 p.m.

The top three winners, for both male and female, won prizes with first place winning a $200 cash prize along with hats and gift cards.

The highest throw of the day was 25 feet and won the men’s first place.

Niko’s put on the festival to get the town and surrounding communities together to meet and engage.

“This festival is a great way to get the community involved and interacting as well as celebrate the fall,” said special guest MC Christine Bachman.

“We are hosting a great family event with kids’ activities during the day and adult activities at night.”

There was kids’ pumpkin carving and decorating and a children’s league of pumpkin chucking.

“We have everything, you name it, here at Niko’s Red Mill,” said Bachman.

Bands performed all day from noon to midnight. Bands that played were Derringer and Rye Suburban Cowboys, Cinful, Nashville Electric Co., Modern Day Romeos, and Bella Cain, in this order.

Alongside the bands, there were two 10-foot by 10-foot TV screens displaying the Chicago Cubs play-off game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the bands’ performances, the singers would shout out the score of the game in between songs.

Dawn Kline, participant of the festival, said “We loved watching the bands and Cubs game at the same time. It was such a good idea.”

The bar and restaurant were open in case festival-goers wanted more than just burgers.

Towards the end of the night, the festival flourished with people. Niko’s started using shuttle busses to take participants to and from their cars.

“It was a great night and very well put together. The staff and everyone did a great job,” said Kline.

The pumpkin chucking festival is one of the biggest events Niko’s put on during the year, and it is highly anticipated.

“I cannot wait for the seventh chuck fest,” said Robert Frank, participant of the festival.

For more information and future events, call 815-338-6455 or visit redmilltavern.com.