MILTON — Thousands of students, residents, vendors, artisans and re-enactors gathered at the West Virginia Pumpkin Festival fairgrounds for its first two days Thursday and Friday for a mixture of entertainment and education.

“Thursday and Friday are our school days, and we have over 3,000 kids here today. Most of them are middle school, but there are some that are here as far away as Lewisburg and Fayette County schools,” Festival Secretary and Food Concessions Chairman Barbara Brooks told The Herald-Dispatch on Friday afternoon.