Monster Gourds Vie for the World Record at the 43rd Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off

Will this be the year the world pumpkin heavyweight record is squashed in Half Moon Bay, California?

The intrigue is building as Superstar Gourd Growing Greats and their astonishing, mind-boggling, Volkswagen-sized orange orbs gather on the morning of Monday, October 10 for the 43rd Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off –– in the World Pumpkin Capital of Half Moon Bay, California –– the kick-off to Half Moon Bay’s world-famous Art & Pumpkin Festival which takes place October 15-16.

Weigh-Off organizers are offering a $30,000 mega-prize for a new world record pumpkin entered at Half Moon Bay –– considered the “Super Bowl of Weigh-Offs”. A host of accomplished, grizzled veteran growers will be contending for the coveted title, the $30,000 world record prize and thousands of dollars in additional prize money. In a unique pay-by-the-pound system, the winner will take home a hefty $6 per pound for the champion mega-pumpkin plus a starring role in the world-famous Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, Oct. 15-16 (including a free weekend at the posh, pumpkin-centric Ritz-Carlton on the stunningly beautiful Half Moon Bay coast).

To receive the $30,000 world record prize, the grower must break and hold the world record at the conclusion of the Half Moon Bay weigh-off. If two or more growers happen to break the world record at Half Moon Bay, the prize money would go to the grower of the heaviest pumpkin. The current world record pumpkin is 2,323-pounds grown by Swiss grower Beni Meier and set at at weigh-off in Germany in 2014.

Defending Half Moon Bay champion Steve Daletas’ ginormous 1,969-pound weigh-off champion mega-gourd obliterated a formidable field of heavyweight contenders in winning the 2015 Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off. Daletas is expected to return to defend his title and contend for the $30,000 world record prize.

Beauty will share center stage with beefy brawn — a special $500 prize will be awarded to the “most beautiful pumpkin” as judged by the audience based on color, shape and size.

On weigh-off reckoning day, streets around downtown Half Moon Bay will be lined with sagging, overloaded trucks crammed with burly orange behemoths quietly awaiting their place of destiny in the worldwide media spotlight or the Libby's canning factory, their massive roots firmly planted in buckets of water to prevent weight loss as fans ooh and aah at their sheer, stunning enormity.

Using forklifts and harnesses, the monster gourds will be carefully placed on a 5-ton capacity digital scale under the watchful eye of officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office of Weights, Sealers, and Measures.

The official weighing will take place from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the I.D.E.S. Grounds, 735 Main Street in Half Moon Bay.

The champion pumpkin, along with the top five pumpkins overall, will be on display at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival on October 15-16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHEN: Monday, October 10, 2016. Weighing will take place from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.

WHERE: IDES Grounds, 735 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, California.

INFO-LINE: 650-726-9652

WEBSITE: http://weighoff.miramarevents.com

DOWNLOAD 300 DPI JPEGS: http://weighoff.miramarevents.com/photo-downloads.html

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Safeway-World-Championship-Pumpkin-Weigh-Off/129313950438072?v=wall

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/HMBPumpkinFest/

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltf-UTmgDRs