Photos of the Week: Human Tower, Pumpkin Pyramid, Monster Town

A crowd of people at Oktoberfest smile and raise mugs of beer toward the camera.

Felix Hörhager / Picture-Alliance via Getty / Picture-Alliance / dpa

Guests celebrate at the Hofbräu-Festzelt tent at Oktoberfest after the first keg is tapped in Munich, Germany, on September 19, 2026.

Two people work together, standing on the bucket at the front of a tractor, placing pumpkins and other squash onto a tall pyramid.

Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert / dpa / Getty

Andre (left) and Anna Laue from the Elbaue Horse Farm swap out pumpkins at the top of their pumpkin pyramid in Schönebeck, Germany, on September 22, 2026. The pyramid is visible from afar and marks the pick-your-own field and the farm stand run by the farmer and the teacher.

A man sits on a bench, proudly displaying his enormous squash.

Ian Forsyth / Getty

Graham Haswell, from Billingham, poses for a picture with his 80.3-pound (36.43-kilogram) prize-winning marrow during the 50th Harrogate Autumn Flower Show on September 18, 2026 in Ripon, England.

A group of people view and illuminated wall, part of an art exhibit that is depicting what appears to be a human embryo inside an egg.

Eduardo Parra / Europa Press / Getty

People view the immersive exhibition titled “Human Universe” at Espacio Delicias in Madrid, Spain, on September 18, 2026.

A basketball player reacts, their mouth wide open, as an out-of-focus basketball passes in front of the camera.

Lindsey Wasson / AP

Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson reacts after a Seattle Storm foul against the Aces during the second half of a WNBA basketball game on September 17, 2026, in Seattle.

Bilal Hussein / AP

A boy plays soccer as the sun sets over the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 18, 2026.

An athlete leaps high in the air to kick a small ball over a net, as defenders are seen with their feet also high in the air on the opposite side of the net.

David Gray / AFP / Getty

Thailand’s Tanaphon Sapyen kicks the ball during the men’s team sepak takraw match between Thailand and Indonesia at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan, on September 21, 2026.

A crowd watches as a trim, driver, strikes a large inflatable ball, using it to knock down tall inflatable pins.

Wojtek Radwanski / AFP / Getty

The tram of the Turkish team from Istanbul competes during the 12th European Tram Driver Championship in front of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland’s downtown, on September 19, 2026. Twenty-six teams from 25 cities and 24 European countries, plus one guest team from Melbourne, Australia, gathered to show off their driving skills in a series of competitions that tested their precision, concentration, feel for the vehicle, and control of the tram.

Two climbers stand atop, a monolithic rock formation, with the moon visible in the blue sky behind them.

Felipe Dana / AP

Climbers take photos while standing atop the Cavall Bernat monolith, as the moon rises behind, at Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac Natural Park in Matadepera, Spain, September 20, 2026.

Thousands of solar panels cover a field, visible to the horizon.

AFP / Getty

Solar panels cover the ground at the Yinchuan No. 4 Photovoltaic Power Station in the Gobi desert in China’s northern Ningxia region, on September 22, 2026.

An aerial view of terraced rice fields, with meandering paths flowing through them

Qin Gang / VCG / Getty

Rice grows in terraced fields in Yunding Village, in China’s Guizhou province, on September 19, 2026.

Dozens of white geese walk together in a dense group.

Matthias Bein / DPA / Getty

Geese walk through a pasture in the northern Harz Mountains near Veckenstedt, Germany, on September 24, 2026.

Police officers in dress uniforms march in a parade, carrying puppies in hi-viz-colored pouches.

Raul Bravo / AFP / Getty

Members of the Chilean Carabineros hold police-dog puppies during the annual military parade at the O’Higgins Park ellipse, held as part of celebrations marking the anniversary of Chile’s independence, in Santiago, on September 19, 2026.

Two people wearing traditional clothing each carry an alpaca on a pathway.

Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty

Alpacas are loaded onto a livestock truck during the traditional Alpabzug, in German, or désalpe, in French, a Swiss festival to mark herds coming in from mountain pastures, in the Griesalp area above Kiental, Switzerland, on September 22, 2026.

Omer Ahu / Anadolu / Getty

A red deer bellows in woodlands east of Mount Uludağ in northwestern Turkey, on September 19, 2026.

A crowd watches from an observation area as turbulent water, splashes, and rushes past.

Zhao Xiaogang / VCG / Getty

Tourists visit the Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River as the water volume significantly increased due to sediment discharge and flood release from upstream reservoirs on September 20, 2026, in Yan’an, Shaanxi province, China.

A low-angle view of many migrants wearing life vests sitting on an inflatable raft in the ocean

Guillaume Saligot / AFP / Getty

Migrants aboard a smuggler’s boat attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Merville-Franceville-Plage, France, on September 21, 2026. As crossings of the English Channel become more and more difficult from northern French beaches, migrants are trying new routes to reach England from southern regions such as the Calvados department, where the channel is wider than along the northern French coast.

A wide view of two people wading through shallow water in a broad lake, with mountains visible in the background

Jeff Pachoud / AFP / Getty

Two people wade through the shallow water of Lak Annecy, far from the shore, after the water level dropped significantly because of an ongoing drought, in Annecy, France, on September 24, 2026.

A cyclist rides during a time-trial race beneath a tall road bridge.

Dario Belingheri / Getty

Matisse Van Kerckhove competes in a time trial at the 99th UCI Road World Championships on September 21, 2026, in Montreal, Quebec.

A family with young children poses for a photograph on a wagon, beside statues of two frightening-looking monsters in the back of the wagon.

Buddhika Weerasinghe / Getty

Visitors pose next to monsters named “Kappa” sitting on a cart in Japan’s “Monster Town,” Fukusaki, on September 23, 2026, near Himeji, Japan. Fukusaki has installed statues of whimsical and spooky monsters and mythical creatures from Japanese folklore in various locations to attract tourists.

A statue of a demon taking a selfie sits on a bench in front of a storefront.

Buddhika Weerasinghe / Getty

A monster named “Demon” sits on a bench outside a restaurant in Fukusaki on September 23, 2026.

A person looks up toward a raging forest fire on a hillside, partially obscured by thick smoke.

Luis Lizarazo / AFP / Getty

A volunteer looks on as a forest fire burns on San Marcos Hill in the municipality of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá department, Colombia, on September 20, 2026.

A person uses a hose to spray water onto a tall burning building at night.

Kateryna Klochko / AP

A rescue worker puts out a fire at the Intrade shopping center after a Russian drone strike on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on September 21, 2026.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walks through a dark passage before giving a speech.

Heather Khalifa / AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to speak during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York on September 23, 2026.

A woman holding an umbrella poses beside a light display.

AFP / Getty

A woman holding an umbrella poses during a visit to the Shanghai International Light Festival in a park in Shanghai, China, on September 17, 2026.

Chalk dust flies from the hands of a gymnast who just slipped off a bar during an exercise.

Eugene Hoshiko / AP

Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka falls from the horizontal bar at the men’s-team artistic-gymnastics final at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on September 23, 2026.

A large crowd of people packs into a square in a town, watching a group that is forming a tall human tower.

Lorena Sopena Lopez / Anadolu / Getty

Members of Barcelona’s eight human-tower groups (castellers) perform during the traditional La Mercè human-tower display at Plaça de Sant Jaume in Barcelona, Spain, on September 24, 2026.

Two girls stand near the shore of a salt lake, seen in silhouette at sunset.

Petros Karadjias / AP

Girls are silhouetted against a salt lake as the sun sets in the southern coastal city of Larnaca, on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on September 23, 2026.