A giant pumpkin weighing more than half a tonne has snatched top place in a world championship competition of giant vegetables held in California, organisers said on Tuesday.
A retired firefighter from the north-western American state of Washington won Monday’s World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off for the second year running with his humongous 557,47kg entry.
“It turned out to be a good seed for defending champion Joel Holland, who tied his own Half Moon Bay record (set in 2004) with a 1 229-pound [553,05kg] Atlantic Giant,” organisers said in a statement received on Tuesday.
The 56-year-old Holland’s giant gourd measured 3,9m in circumference — and earned him $6 145 in prize money, calculated on the basis of $5 per pound.
“It’s just phenomenal. Who would have guessed it?” Holland told the San Francisco Chronicle after receiving his prize, which marked his fifth first-place finish at the event that has been held annually for 32 years.
The contest pitting the oversized vegetables against one another was played out in the central California hamlet of Half Moon Bay and drew pumpkin enthusiasts from across the United States.
Holland’s pumpkin beat out more than 50 heavyweight contenders vying for the world championship title, but failed to snatch the coveted “most beautiful pumpkin” prize, awarded by the audience based on colour, shape and size.
Another veg fan, John Muller of Half Moon Bay, unveiled the world’s first-ever square-shaped pumpkin at the show.
Holland’s winning entry will be put on display in the coastal town where the contest was held. — AFP