One highlight of autumn is pumpkin festivals. Pumpkin growers have nurtured those seedlings through to full growth from spring until fall. If you like to attend festivals, visit a pumpkin festival in your town or nearby.

Pumpkin growers who attend festivals use the growing season to find a winning specimen from the rows and rows of orange beauties. Careful watering, fungicides, fertilizers, and debugging, all work together to grow large pumpkins.

One part of the pumpkin festival is the weigh-off. This is when contestants enter their prized unblemished pumpkins in a contest to see who has grown the heaviest pumpkin for that year. Many growers live for the weigh-off.

Depending on the pumpkin variety you are growing, some grow larger than others. Super large pumpkins can grow to be over 150 pounds each. That is a big pumpkin. I struggle with carrying a ten pounder out of the patch for decoration.

Pumpkin weigh-offs occur all across the country in every state. Depending on the state, they are held between September and November each year. Most weigh-offs center around pumpkin or fall festivals. The heaviest pumpkin gets to hold the title and the ribbon for an entire year. Now, the pumpkin may not survive that long, but the ribbon will look great on the mantle attached to a picture of the winning squash.

Another feature of the pumpkin festival is the pumpkin carving aspect. Many people shop around for the perfect pumpkin to use for their festival creation. The designs work best on a pumpkin that is just the right size and shape for it.

Several categories exist in the contest. This heightens the competition since there can be more than one winner in more than one category. Some have created entire scenes on the face of a pumpkin.

The days of friendly snaggle-toothed faces on the front of the pumpkin are long gone in competition. The bar has been raised to include flaming pumpkins, gross looking pumpkins, pumpkins that resemble human faces, and elaborate pumpkin artistic scenes.

Besides the carving and the weighing is the eating. Pumpkin pie contests are another big attraction. Who can come up with the best pumpkin pie recipe? Afterwards, it’s time to eat and get stuffed just like one of those huge pumpkins.

Where are the pumpkin festivals in your area? Look it up on the web or the city’s website under “Events.” There is bound to be one close to attend with the entire family.

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