Spooky sights were abundant at YVR today (especially if you find the whole Gangnam style phenomenon a little odd), as we held our annual Halloween costume and pumpkin carving contest. The contest, which took place at The Haida Gwaii: The Spirit of the Jade Canoe during lunch, saw crowds cheering on their favourites in the costume contest, checking out amazing pumpkins and enjoying beats spun by DJ Alibaba.
Prizes were awarded for both the carving and costume contest, with some pretty high stakes. First place winners received an Apple iPad 2 while second and third place winners took home $200 and $100 YVR Bucks respectively.
30 pre-carved pumpkins were submitted in the contest, showing off a range of creativity and skills. We saw monsters, Gangnam style, and even a tea pot representing High Tea served by Fairmont Vancouver Airport. Each year, the entries and skill levels seem to rise, and it is hard to believe you’re looking at creations carved into a vegetable and not sculpted with clay.
In the end, the judges awarded Michael Valeroso from BCIT Aerospace first place for his intricate and dynamic three-faced 60 kg (!!) creation.
Following on its success last year, the costume contest once again proved to be a bit hit with 45 entries. First place was awarded to Patrick Switzer for his traditional Mexican ’Dia de los Muertos’ or Day of the Dead mariachi costume. Patrick had actually just landed at YVR from California in costume and didn’t realize there was a contest until he arrived. Second place was a beekeeper & baby bee duo and the third place was awarded to an adorable toddler dressed as a floatplane.
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all participants for putting in an extraordinary amount of effort and imagination into your creations. It was great to see so much support from the airport community who came out and cheered everyone on.
We’re already looking forward to seeing what you’ll come up with next year. View our Facebook photo gallery of today's event.