With its gorgeously remote, rural setting, nestled in a ring of rolling hills, and its eye-poppingly vivid sprawl of 10,000 or so pumpkins, Canyon Country landmark Lombardi Ranch's annual Pumpkin Festival never fails to deliver plenty of seasonal kicks and idyllic, agrarian atmosphere. Proprietors of a working, family-owned farm for some 70 years, the Lombardis grow corn, tomatoes, peppers, squashes, melons and, natch, a wide, wild selection of pumpkins and fabulously grotesque gourdes. On the weekends there's live country, R&B, zydeco and even high school marching bands. There's also the requisite petting zoo and kiddie train ride, a fair selection of food, antique fire and police vehicles, larger-than-life Fiberglas jack o'lanterns and a haystack pyramid upon which a ceaseless tide of delighted juveniles ceaselessly swarms. But the real draw here is Scarecrow Alley, where 100 or more handmade examples of the strawmen are erected throughout the Lombardis' massive cornfield. There's a competition (adult and kid divisions), and the results are invariably bizarre and spectacular. If you want some pure Americana, hoss, here's where you'll find it. 29527 Bouquet Canyon Road, Saugus; Daily, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., through October (early closing Oct. 31); free. (661) 296-8697, lombardiranch.com.

Sept. 29-Oct. 31, 2013

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