Minnesota Grower Wins Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Weigh-Off

Travis Gienger, a grower from Anoka, Minnesota, has won the 53rd Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, with a gargantuan gourd weighing 2,389 pounds. The victory earned Gienger $21,501 in prize money, calculated at $9 per pound.

The competition, often referred to as the "Super Bowl of Weigh-Offs," attracted pumpkin growers from across the United States to the coastal town, known as the "World Pumpkin Capital."

Gienger transported his massive pumpkin over 2,150 miles to participate in the event. He described the journey as "nerve-wracking," involving navigating tough terrain and mountain passes. This marks Gienger's fifth win at the Half Moon Bay competition; he previously won the event four times and set the world record in 2023 with a 2,749-pound pumpkin.

Last year's champion, Brandon Dawson of Santa Rosa, California, had won with a 2,346-pound pumpkin.

The current official world record for the heaviest pumpkin is held by Ian and Stuart Paton of England, who grew a pumpkin weighing 2,819 pounds, 4 ounces in 2025.

The Half Moon Bay weigh-off began in 1974 as a friendly competition and has since grown into a major event for giant pumpkin growers. The inaugural contest saw a winning pumpkin weighing just 132 pounds.