The World Pumpkin Record Was On The Line At The Annual Half Moon Bay Contest

HALF MOON BAY, CA — The quest for a 3,000-pound pumpkin came up short at Half Moon Bay’s annual giant pumpkin competition Monday, but the winning grower still took home more than $21,000.

Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota, won the 53rd annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off with a 2,389-pound pumpkin, earning $21,501, according to the event’s official 2026 results.

The competition had raised the possibility of breaking the 3,000-pound mark. The world record entering the event was 2,819 pounds, 4 ounces, set by twin brothers Ian and Stuart Paton in England in 2025.

Under the event’s prize structure, the champion earns $9 per pound. A world-record-breaking entry that still holds the record at the end of the competition qualifies for a $30,000 total mega prize.

J. Leonard of Rocklin placed second with a 2,273-pound pumpkin, earning $3,000. Leonard also won the $1,000 prize for California’s biggest pumpkin.

B. Christensen of Rexburg, Idaho, placed third with a 1,873-pound entry and won $2,500. T. Alameda of San Juan Bautista finished fourth with a 1,760-pound pumpkin, earning $2,000.

The rest of the top 10 included L. Jimenez of Madera, in fifth place with 1,625 pounds, and B. Dawson of Santa Rosa, in sixth with 1,593 pounds. L. Fowler of Napa placed seventh at 1,555 pounds, J. Wilkinson of Morgan Hill eighth at 1,526 pounds, J. Hawkley of Napa ninth at 1,485 pounds and K.E. Bordsen of Marysville 10th at 1,411 pounds. Each received $1,000.

The competition also recognized local growers and standout pumpkins. T. McGuirk of Half Moon Bay won the Biggest from the Coastside prize with a 352-pound pumpkin, earning $1,000. “Tinker Bell” from Los Altos Hills won the Joe Cotchett Family Most Beautiful Pumpkin award and received $500.

The event featured a special appearance by Farmer Mike Valladao, known as the “Picasso of Pumpkin Carvers,” who is celebrating 40 years of carving giant pumpkins at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival.

The weigh-off began in 1974 as a friendly challenge between Half Moon Bay and Circleville, Ohio. Half Moon Bay won the first contest with a 132-pound pumpkin. Today, the competition is an officially sanctioned Great Pumpkin Commonwealth event, with weighing and inspection overseen by the organization and the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture’s Office of Weights and Measures.

More information about the annual event is available at hmbweighoff.com.