Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off goes on, declaring 2,089-pound pumpkin the winner
The Elk Grove Pumpkin Weigh-Off declared a new winner Saturday following a festival with social distancing and without spectators. While the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival normally brings in tens of thousands of visitors, the festival this year only focused on the huge gourds and their growers.
Madison Thomson, a resident of Newcastle, was declared the 2020 winner with his 2,089-pound gourd. Thomson has grown giant pumpkins for the past 15 years, but this year was his first time competing in Elk Grove’s weigh-in.
“I was not expecting to win at all. I was not expecting it to get as heavy as it did. This pumpkin is over double the size of my next largest pumpkin that I’ve ever grown,” Thomson said.
Pumpkins growers came from all over California and beyond to compete for the $2,000 prize and the bragging rights that come with the victory. Pumpkins were moved with a forklift onto the scale, with eight of the giants being weighed every hour, to ensure social distancing.
The event marked the 26th year of the festival on Florin Road. Guests were able to watch the announcement of the winner over a Facebook live broadcast and use social media, including Instagram and Twitter, to follow along with the contentious gardening competition.
Thomson’s advice to any pumpkin farmers is to water the plant meticulously and to monitor the soil’s nutrients.
“There’s lots of fertilizer that goes into it too, but good dirt and lots of water are key,” Thomson said.
Following its growth and cultivation, the giant pumpkin requires a complicated system to transport it, with a tripod and straps bringing the pumpkin into a trailer using an engine hoist. But it was all worth it for Thomson’s win, leaving him with “awesome” bragging rights.
Beyond this festival’s prize and the title of winner, farmers compete against records set for largest pumpkins grown in California and the world. While Thomson’s crop won this year, it fell short of beating the California record of 2,138 pounds set by Jose Ceja of Napa during the Elk Grove festival in 2018. The world record of 2,624.6 pounds was set by Mathias Willemijns at the European Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Germany in 2016.
The Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off is just one of many California competitions weighing the large gourds, including the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival, which has opted to cancel the event’s in-person attendance and host a similarly empty weigh-in on Oct. 12.
The Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival has grown into the city’s largest festival, attracting 70,000 people in 2019, since its beginning in 1994. While the weighing of giant pumpkins is always the central event, the festival typically features other attractions that couldn’t be continued this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival is organized by the Cosumnes Community Services District, partnering with many community sponsors.
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 5:02 PM.