10/18/2026
What a difference a year makes!
First, a huge thank-you to Let It Shine, all the Keene Pumpkin Fest organizers and volunteers, and every vendor who helped make downtown Keene such a fun place to be yesterday. And thanks to Mother Nature for keeping the rain away! A little chilly? Absolutely. But we’ll take it!
I also want to give a well-deserved thank-you to our entire team at The Perch.
Last year’s Pumpkin Fest was tough. We’d been open less than a month, and there were plenty of lessons learned. We took notes, listened, and came into this year determined to give everyone a better experience.
We had over 100 menus ready so guests at every table and the bar could easily see what we offered. We slipped in a few sneak previews of items coming in November, and put our fall drink specials on table tents. Those specials ended up being our #1 and #2 bestselling drinks of the day!
But the biggest difference was our people. We had 15 people working together, compared with our usual 3–5, and that teamwork showed: not a single order hit the 30-minute mark all day.
That included DoorDash and Uber Eats! For everyone who wanted their Perch fix while enjoying a quieter day at home, we appreciate you, too. Most, if not all, of those orders were ready before the drivers even arrived.
To everyone on our staff: thank you for the preparation, the hustle, and the way you supported each other. Days like this take a whole team, and I’m incredibly proud of ours.
Was everything perfect? No. We still have notes to take and things to improve for next year. But the difference between our first Pumpkin Fest and this one was night and day. It felt 1,000% better, and you all made that happen.
Thank you to everyone who stopped in, ordered from home, or supported any of our downtown businesses. With construction making things challenging, these events matter. We’re grateful to the downtown organizers and the city of Keene for working to keep people coming downtown, and we’re looking forward to putting everything we’ve learned into the next event.
Thank you, Keene!
