It's like a pre-game celebration for Halloween — Friday is National Pumpkin Day!
Pumpkins are a versatile vegetable used to make bars, cookies, coffee, cheesecake, pasta and oatmeal.
And of course, pumpkin spice is a popular flavor loved by millions across the U.S.
In addition to its edibility, pumpkins are also fun for families to carve and decorate for trick-or-treaters.
The U.S. produces 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins each year with Illinois as the top state for production.
To celebrate the festive day, Publix will serve up free samples of pumpkin pie and pumpkin ice cream from 4 p.m. 7 p.m.
