Meet the Competitors
11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Conservatory Plaza & Lawn
See three of the region’s best carvers put their skills to the test in an afternoon pumpkin carving competition that brings out the ghouls and ghosts in these much-loved gourds.
Sarah Blostein
New Competitor!
Sarah Blostein is an award-winning SPFX Costume Builder and Textile Artist, working in Toronto’s Film and Television industry. You have likely seen her work on shows like The Last of Us, The Boys, The Handmaid’s Tale, Chucky, and Gen-V.
Blostein’s interdisciplinary fine arts background and penchant for all things spooky and macabre have culminated in a second career as a professional pumpkin carver. Her often horrific fruit and vegetable sculptures are inspired by a lifelong love of Halloween, the horror/sci-fi genre, and by her work in the film industry.
Her pumpkin sculptures can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @ahead.of.the.carve and you can see her costume work on @breakdownbadass and in this Insider BTS interview.
Lenny Calvin
NYBG Top Carver 2022 Winner; NYBG Top Carver 2023 Competitor
Lenny Calvin describes himself as a “self-taught artist.” His artistic eye found its way into his designing, carpentry and furniture making, and pumpkin carving. Calvin has competed on Food Network’s Halloween Wars Seasons 6 & 8 and Outrageous Pumpkins Season 2. He’s been featured on many local and national news stations. His fans can see his work on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at LennyCalvinCreations. He claims his favorite time of the year is when there are an abundance of pumpkins to carve. He calls it “temporary art”—so many pumpkins, so little time.
Alan Silva
NYBG Top Carver 2022 Competitor
Alan Silva is a full time sculptor and muralist based in Southern California. During the fall, he is a full-time pumpkin carver teaching carving classes and touring the nation, carving pumpkins for everyone to enjoy. Silva’s sculptures and mural work have adorned red carpet premieres such as Jurassic World, Barbie, and Wonka, to name a few.
In 2022, he was a semifinalist on Season 3 of Food Network’s Outrageous Pumpkins. This year, you can watch him and his team, Two Ghouls and a Butcher, carve it up on Halloween Wars Season 14 on the Food Network.
If you’re ever in Southern California, make sure to take a photo with Boots! The world’s largest duck in boots sculpture he created is located at the shops at Dos Lagos in Corona, CA. You can check out his work on Instagram.
