Minnesota champ repeats at annual Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-off
Defending champion Travis Gienger from Minnesota won his third straight Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay Monday with another gargantuan gourd.
Crowds gathered Monday morning for the 51st annual contest to crown the biggest pumpkin in the land.
The yearly weigh-off that draws entries from farmers across the country will award $9 per pound to the 1st place winner, as well as a Pumpkin King Champions Ring, a Mel Mello Sr. Grand Champion Growers Jacket and two nights at the posh Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. The champion pumpkin will additionally play a starring role in the world-famous Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival.
The weigh-off also provides a special $30,000 mega-prize for any gourd that sets a new world record breaking at the event.
The weigh-off started at 7 a.m. at 735 Main St. in Half Moon Bay. Using forklifts and special harnesses, the gargantuan pumpkins will be carefully placed on a 5-ton capacity, industrial-strength digital scale under the watchful eye of officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office of Weights, Sealers, and Measures.
While Gienger's submission this year was not a record breaker -- he set a new world record in 2023 when his behemoth pumpkin nicknamed "Michael Jordan" after the Chicago Bulls basketball great tipped the scales at 2,749 pounds -- the Minnesota farmer managed a "threepeat" with his latest winner coming in at 2,471 pounds. It was Gienger's fourth win overall, having taken the crown in 2020 as well.
Among the pumpkins entered for the big prize on Monday was one grown by Santa Rosa resident Brandon Dawson in his backyard. Dawson came close to victory, but his 2,465 pound pumpkin was bumped to second place after Gienger's was weighed.
The Minnesotan will take home $22,239 in prize money, while Dawson will get $3,000 for second plus an additional $1,000 for having the biggest pumpkin from California in the contest. A full listing of the top entries can be found online.
The weigh-off is the first event in a week of seasonal festivities culminating in this coming weekend's 52nd annual Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival.