The Great Rotumpkin • A Spooktacular Halloween Projection

by Local Artist Jeff Dobrow & the AV Company

The Great Rotumpkin - Projection Mapping on the Rotunda

Dancing skeletons, spooky pumpkins, bubbling cauldrons and a haunted house will all make appearances on the exterior of UVA’s Rotunda in celebration of Halloween this year!!

Thursday - Saturday, October 31-November 2 • 7-11pm 
UVA's Rotunda • Open to the Public • FREE 

Vignettes accompanied by haunting music will cycle over the outside of the centerpiece of the University, transforming the iconic building into a massive movie screen. The mini-shows might transform the Rotunda into a graveyard with jolly, dancing skeletons, a haunted house or an animated Halloween music box, with a rising moon and rotating, ghoulish pumpkins, caldrons, and purple skulls. You will have to come see to find out!!

Do not miss Kiki & Celeste as they join the FESTIVITIES on Thursday, October 31st!! 

The puppet Kiki had black lights embedded in it to light up the Lawn as the sky darkened. (Photo by Clara Castle, University Communications)
Celeste, pictured here, and Kiki stopped briefly in front of the statue of Thomas Jefferson in front of the Rotunda. (Photo by Clara Castle, University Communications)

Thanks to UPC, there will be great events to accompany the Projection Mapping!! 

  • October 31st: We will have wooden pumpkin ornaments that can be decorated with paint, markers, and stickers. We will also have a Polaroid camera and film so community members and students can take pictures (that they can keep) in their Halloween costumes.
  • November 1st: We will have cookies, hot chocolate, and Día de Los Muertos crafts.
  • November 2nd: We will have candy from different regions/countries around the world and goodie bags to collect the candy.

Projection mapping plays with the evolving, fluid relationship between technology & art to produce interactive, immersive, and involving experiences. The show offers students and community members a way to experience art with one another. The energetic pop-up projections blend UVA’s prominent architecture with colorful lights and music in hopes of providing an uplifting, joyful, impactful, and engaging encounter that will leave you with a bit of wonder, curiosity, and maybe a new shared experience or memory to draw from.

UVA Arts, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts, and UPC present The Great Rotumpkin! 

UVA's Rotunda with Halloween projection mapping. On the left the rotunda as a jack-o'-lantern and on the right dancing skeletons on the columns of the Rotunda…
Story Visual Art

Look – It’s the Great Rotumpkin!

October 25, 2022

THE GREAT ROTUMPKIN of 2021

Halloween Projection Mapping by local artist Jeff Dobrow

In the News:

  • ‘Hoo? What? Where?’ Trick-or-Treating on the Lawn and So Much More • UVA Today • October 12, 2023
  • Spooky projections to shine on UVA's Rotunda • CBS 19 News • October 27, 2022
  • Pick: The Great Rotumpkin | Hoo ghosted hoo? • CVille Weekly • October 26, 2022
  • UVA is gearing up for the return of the “Great Rotumpkin” • NewsRadio WINA • October 19, 2022
  • ‘The Great Rotumpkin’ reignites Halloween celebration on Grounds • by Leon Arceo • Cavalier Daily • November 1, 2021
  • The Great Rotumpkin lights up the Lawn • by Anne-Parker Coleman • CBS19 • October 31, 2021
  • It’s ‘The Great Rotumpkin’: Spooktacular Halloween Projection Show Coming to UVA • by Jane Kelly • UVA Today • October 28, 2021
Colorful Projection Mapping on the UVA Chapel

Brighter Together: Projection Mapping at UVA

The energetic pop-up projections blend UVA’s prominent architecture with colorful lights and music in hopes of providing an uplifting, joyful, impactful, and engaging encounter that will leave you with a bit of wonder, curiosity, and maybe a new shared experience or memory to draw from.