THE 2026 RAKU PUMPKIN EXPERIENCE

300 handmade numbered pumpkins. 6 Raku kilns. 60 live firings.
One incredible day of Raku!

$65 per pumpkin
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Choose your start time: 12 PM • 3 PM • 6 PM

• Festival admission is sold separately. A Raku Pumpkin reservation does not include your Rhythm + Raku entry ticket - it does however get you an automatic $5 discount on your entry ticket.

One of our very favorite parts of Rhythm + Raku is getting to invite you into the process. When Eric and I met 24 years ago we spent many nights hanging out around the raku kiln, and love that we get to share this experience with all of you now.

In the weeks leading up to the festival, our Beale Pottery team, members and volunteers will make 300 individual ceramic pumpkins by hand. Every pumpkin will be a little different, and every one will be stamped with our special 2026 Rhythm + Raku commemorative stamp and numbered as part of this year’s collection.

Then, on October 10, you get to finish the story..

Choose your pumpkin, decorate it with Raku glazes, and then spend some time enjoying the festival while our crew takes it through the fire. You’ll be able to watch the kilns open glowing hot, see the pieces move through the reduction process, and eventually take home a one-of-a-kind pumpkin that you helped create.

And yes - it’s every bit as fun as it sounds.

CHOOSE YOUR START TIME

To make this year’s experience run more smoothly, we’re dividing our 300 pumpkins into three groups of 100:

12:00 PM | Group No.1
2:30 PM | Group No.2
5:00 PM | Group No.3

These are START TIMES, not individual firing appointments.

Please arrive at your selected time, check in with our Raku team, choose your pumpkin and get started decorating.

Once your pumpkin is ready, it will enter the firing queue. Raku is a live firing process, and fire has its own schedule! Your pumpkin will be fired during your session, but we cannot promise an exact kiln time or completion time.

Grab something to eat, listen to the bands, shop the pottery, participate in the clay games, watch the kilns and enjoy the festival while our crew works its way through the firing queue.

If you need to leave before your pumpkin is finished, that’s okay. We’ll safely hold it for you and you can return to Beale Pottery beginning Monday following the festival to pick it up.

PICK YOUR PUMPKIN

During the check-out process you will be prompted with a choice between a plain pumpkin or a craved one. When you arrive, you will get to pick your pumpkin from the dedicated “patch”.

300 PUMPKINS AND EVERY ONE HAS A NUMBER

This year feels especially meaningful because we’re celebrating 10 years of Beale Pottery - super cool, right?!

Each of the 300 pumpkins will carry our special 2026 Rhythm + Raku stamp and its own individual number.

When you select your pumpkin, you’ll receive a matching numbered claim ticket. We’ll take your name at check-in, you’ll take a picture of your pumpkin and it’s number, and you’ll hold onto your ticket while your pumpkin makes its journey through glazing, firing and reduction.

When your pumpkin is ready, simply turn in your matching ticket and take it home.

Please keep that little ticket safe - it’s how we’ll reunite you with your pumpkin!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARRIVE?

Don’t worry if you’ve never touched clay or used a glaze before. No Raku experience is necessary.

Our members and volunteers will be there to walk you through the process and help you decorate your pumpkin.

You’ll:

1. Check in and receive your numbered claim ticket.
2. Choose your handmade pumpkin.
3. Decorate it using our selection of Raku glazes and surface techniques.
4. Turn it over to our Raku crew to enter the firing queue.
5. Enjoy the festival while five kilns fire throughout the day.
6. Watch the magic happen.
7. Take your finished pumpkin home, or return Monday if you can’t stay until it’s finished.

WHAT IS RAKU?

Raku is a fast, dramatic ceramic firing process unlike the way most everyday pottery is fired.

Once your decorated pumpkin is loaded into one of our Raku kilns, it is heated rapidly. Once it reaches temperature, our crew removes the piece from the kiln while it is glowing hot and transfers it into a reduction chamber with combustible material. This is where the magic happens!

The process changes the glaze and surface of the piece in ways that can be surprising and beautifully unpredictable. You’ll see crackle effects, and copper flashings… No two pieces come out exactly alike - which is precisely why we love it.

You’ll be able to watch the process happening throughout Rhythm + Raku.

MORE FIRE. BIGGER TEAM. 300 PUMPKINS.

Last year, our incredible Raku crew ran four kilns and fired 225 pieces in one day.

This year we’re going bigger..

This experience takes a village. Long before October 10, our community will be throwing, carving, stamping, drying, bisque firing and preparing all 300 pumpkins so they’re ready when you arrive.

Then another crew of volunteers (some of the same) will spend festival day helping you glaze, manage the firing queue, run kilns, work the reduction process and get your finished pumpkins safely back into your hands.

When you reserve a pumpkin, you’re not just purchasing a piece of pottery. You’re participating in one of the experiences that makes Rhythm + Raku what it is - and your purchase directly helps us produce the festival and keep this community celebration growing.

We couldn’t do it without all of you.

A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW

• Your selected time is your START TIME. Please arrive at 12 PM, 3 PM or 6 PM according to the group you purchase. You will get a reminder emailed to you before your start time.

• Firing is not an appointment. Your pumpkin enters the firing queue after you’ve finished decorating it. Exact completion times cannot be guaranteed.

• One reservation = one handmade Raku pumpkin.

• Pumpkins are limited to 300 total. Each start time is limited to 100 reservations. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

• Festival admission is sold separately. A Raku Pumpkin reservation does not include your Rhythm + Raku entry ticket - it does however get you an automatic $5 discount on your entry ticket.

• Children are welcome to participate with an adult. An adult should accompany younger children through the decorating process.

• Raku is unpredictable by nature. Variations in glaze, smoke, flame and surface are part of the process and part of what makes each piece one of a kind.

• Can’t stay until your pumpkin is finished? No problem. Finished pieces can be picked up at Beale Pottery beginning Monday following the festival.

• Please hold onto your numbered claim ticket. You’ll need it when collecting your finished pumpkin.

• All sales are final. Your purchase reserves one of only 300 handmade pumpkins and helps us plan and prepare materials, firings and staffing for the festival. No refunds or credits will be given.