Editing Keene, New Hampshire (section)

===Festivals===

====Pumpkin====
[[File:Keene pumpkin festival 1.jpg|thumb|250px|A few of the tens of thousands of pumpkins on display at the 2000 Keene Pumpkin Festival]]
{{Main|New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival}}
Every October from 1991 to 2014, Keene hosted an annual pumpkin festival called the Keene Pumpkin Festival, locally known as Pumpkin Fest. The event set world records several times for the largest simultaneous number of [[jack-o'-lantern]]s on display. The first time was in 1993, when Keene set the record with nearly 5,000 carved and lit pumpkins.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/boston/index.ssf/2013/10/keene_nh_tops_bostons_world_re.html|title=Keene, NH tops Boston's world record with 30,581 jack-o'-lanterns|date=October 21, 2013|access-date=2016-09-06}}</ref> The tally from the 2003 festival stood as the record until Boston took the lead in 2006, but Keene reclaimed the world record in 2013, with a total of 30,581 pumpkins, according to [[Guinness World Records]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-lit-jack-o-lanterns-displayed|title=Most lit jack-o'-lanterns displayed|access-date=2016-09-06}}</ref> Besides the pumpkins stacked on massive towers set in the streets, thousands of additional pumpkins were installed along the streets of the city. [[Face painting]], [[fireworks]], music, and other entertainments were also provided.

After riots from college students (the majority of which were not associated with Keene State and were in attendance due to the publicity of the 2013 festival) nearby to the 2014 event location, the Keene Pumpkin Festival<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/mayhem-erupts-in-neighborhoods-near-keene-state/article_3c3e5678-ba70-50bd-9915-704c3b33991a.html |title=Mayhem erupts in neighborhoods near Keene State - SentinelSource.com: Local News |access-date=October 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141019110146/http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/mayhem-erupts-in-neighborhoods-near-keene-state/article_3c3e5678-ba70-50bd-9915-704c3b33991a.html |archive-date=October 19, 2014 }}</ref> was moved to [[Laconia, New Hampshire|Laconia]] the following year and renamed the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival.<ref name="Laconia-hosting">{{cite web |last1=Sexton |first1=Adam |title=It's official: Laconia will host this year's pumpkin festival |url=http://www.wmur.com/news/its-official-laconia-will-host-this-years-pumpkin-festival/32551994 |publisher=[[WMUR-TV]] |access-date=September 23, 2015 |date=April 24, 2015}}</ref> From 2017 onward (except for 2020 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in New Hampshire]]), the organizers of the 2011 through 2014 Keene Pumpkin Festivals, along with the 2015 New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival in Laconia, have run a new smaller, child-focused Keene Pumpkin Festival with a number of restrictions in place, promoting it as the "official" continuation of the Keene Pumpkin Festival.<ref name="letitshinepumpkinfest">{{cite web |url=http://www.pumpkinfestival.org |title=Let it Shine Pumpkin Festival |author=Let it Shine, Inc. |access-date=December 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216041308/http://www.pumpkinfestival.org/ |archive-date=December 16, 2017 |url-status=dead |quote=Let it Shine, Inc., Nonprofit organizers of Pumpkin Festival 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 }}</ref><ref name="pumpkin-revival">{{cite web |last=Cuno-Booth |first=Paul |title=Scaled-down version of Keene's pumpkin festival a hit with many Sunday |url=http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/scaled-down-version-of-keene-s-pumpkin-festival-a-hit/article_bf1eee1b-a771-5d00-a4c4-eb278e8b3b5b.html |website=Sentinel Source |publisher=Keene Sentinel |access-date=November 13, 2017 |date=October 30, 2017}}</ref>

====Music====
In late August or early September the city hosts the Keene Music Festival. Several stages are located throughout the downtown area during the day's events, which are free to the public and sponsored by locally owned businesses. Visitors, mostly from the local community, roam the city's sidewalks listening to the dozens of bands.

====Pride====
Keene Pride Week and festival takes place during the second week of September every year in Downtown Keene. Central Square and parts of Main Street are shut down with over 5,000 people in attendance. It is one of the largest pride festivals in New England and features local, national, and international performers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}