Pumpkin Festival & Weigh-Off

It’s a gourd-like squash that we ignore for most of the year, but the pumpkin is venerated on Halloween—and for three other days in October in the “World Pumpkin Capital” of Half Moon Bay. Following the Pumpkin Weigh-Off on Columbus Day (Oct. 11), 100,000 people a day flock to the coast for the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival on October 16 and 17. It’s a celebration of all things orange.

First is the 37th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, which attracts national media coverage and mega-pumpkins from about 100 growers. The 2009 winner was a record-setting 1,658-pounder grown by a Des Moines farmer. Was the couch-sized pumpkin juiced? Considering the $20,000 purse for the heaviest gourds, including $6 per pound for the champ, you’ve got to wonder. The Weigh-Off (7-11 a.m.) draws about 1,000 spectators, but the big crowds come the following weekend for the Festival.

It’s at the Festival, celebrating its 40th anniversary, where you can also see the five heaviest Weigh-Off pumpkins and have your picture taken next to the Great Gourd. You’ll also get to watch Farmer Mike, the “Picasso of Pumpkin Carvers,” turn the Weigh-Off pumpkins into massive jack-o’-lanterns. But that’s just one attraction at the eight-block-long festival on Half Moon Bay’s Main Street.

Live entertainment on three stages will feature bands (blues and folk to reggae and salsa), plus juggling, comedy and magic. If you prefer being a participant, learn how to carve pumpkins better or enter the pumpkin-pie-eating or Halloween costume contest. While the kids enjoy the haunted house, climbing wall, face-painting booth and amusement rides, you can browse past the 250 crafts booths, featuring glass, ceramics, leather, jewelry and fine art.

When you get hungry, you can taste pumpkin in all of its forms (even as chicken pumpkin sausages), or other dishes made from locally grown produce, like artichokes and brussels sprouts. And when you leave, you can take home a homemade pumpkin pie, a bottle of Half Moon Bay Winery’s festival-label sauvignon blanc or a Half Moon Bay Brewing Company Mavericks Pumpkin Harvest Ale six-pack.

Also part of the Festival are the Great Pumpkin Parade (Saturday at noon), a pancake breakfast (both days from 7-11 a.m.) and a 5K/10K Pumpkin Run/Walk (Sunday at 8 a.m.).

HelloSanFrancisco Tip: Highway 92 becomes a traffic nightmare by 8 a.m. on both festival days, so take Hwy. 1-South from Hwy. 280 in Pacifica, Hwy. 1-North from Hwy. 17 in Santa Cruz or Hwy. 84-West from Woodside.

- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Bob Cooper

Bob Cooper is a full-time freelance writer (www.bob-cooper.com) who writes about travel, outdoor sports and health. He is a monthly contributor to Runner's World and has written recent articles for other national magazines such as Continental, Ladies' Home Journal and Inc.