BOSTON:

Bostonians this Haloween lit 30,128 pumpkins on Boston Common, shattering the world record for the most jack-o’-lanterns lit in one place. “It’s fantastic,” said Jim Laughlin, a spokesman for Life is Good, the Boston clothing company that sponsored the event. “We’ve been going after this record for a long time.” The old record of 28,952 lit pumpkins had been held since 2003 by Keene. That city tried to keep up with their own attempt but lit only 24,682 pumpkins. In Boston, an estimated 100,000 people crowded onto the Common to slice, scoop, and sculpt pumpkins and to savour pumpkin pie and pumpkin soup. The friendly competitions raised thousands of dollars for charities.