California Pumpkin Contest Awards $21,000 to Minnesota Grower

Pumpkin fever swept California Monday as the “Pumpkin Capital of the World” hosted its iconic gargantuan squash competition.

The 53rd Safeway World Championship pumpkin weigh-in culminated with a massive victory for Minnesota grower Travis Gienger, who won the competition with an orange monster the size of a Volkswagen, weighing nearly 2,389 pounds.

The competition, nicknamed the “Super Bowl of weigh-ins,” attracted pumpkin growers from across the country to Half Moon Bay.

Gienger, who has already won the event four times, transported his massive pumpkin 2,150 miles across the country to enter the competition and win $21,501 in prize money.

He said carrying a canteen weighing well over a tonne was a nerve-wracking journey through difficult terrain and mountain passes crossing state lines.

“It was stressful, you know. You fight and then you go through Tahoe,” Gienger told CBS News. “You have all the makings of a trucker, and yes, it’s an incredible trip.”

According to the official rules, the 2026 champion will earn $9 per pound, as well as the coveted Pumpkin King champion ring, the Mel Mello Sr. Grand Champion Growers jacket and other honors.

Gienger’s grueling road trip paid off as his gargantuan gourd secured him another championship ring at Half Moon Bay. He also set the world record in 2023 during the competition with a 2,749-pound pumpkin.

Brandon Dawson of Santa Rosa, Calif., won the competition last year with his 2,346-pound champion pumpkin.

The current official world record for heaviest pumpkin stands at 2,819 pounds, 4 ounces, set by twin brothers Ian and Stuart Paton in England in 2025.

Half Moon Bay’s legendary weigh-in dates back to 1974, beginning as a friendly rivalry with Circleville, Ohio. Half Moon Bay won this inaugural showdown with a pumpkin weighing just 132 pounds.

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