'Tiger King' Pumpkin Weighing 2,350 Pounds Wins CA Contest

HALF MOON BAY, CA — It took 10 people and a forklift to load Travis Gienger's gargantuan 2,350 pound pumpkin into a trailer and haul it from Minnesota to California this week. The giant gourd won the 47th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay Monday.

Gienger, 40, was on his way home Wednesday, hauling the behemoth and aptly named "Tiger King," all the way back to Minnesota.

Tiger King's weight was a mystery until it was weighed Monday, Gienger told Patch from the road.

"There was about 180 days of suspense there, wondering, 'what will this thing weigh?'" Gienger said. "We could have weighed it [in Minnesota] but I just think that wrecks the fun."

The pumpkin, measuring around 19 1/2 feet in diameter and sitting 3 feet tall, made quite the spectacle on the road as it was hauled down the highway uncovered for the journey home.

"Gas station stops are not as quick let me tell you," Gienger said. "I just love the look on people's faces when they see it...people are taking photos and videos."

Tiger King made Gieger a first-time pumpkin champ, winning $16,460, or $7 per pound and was later showcased during a parade through Half Moon Bay Monday.

"When I first realized it was going to be a nice orange with some white stripes, my brother said ‘why don’t we call it Tiger King for 2020?’ What a fitting name," Gienger said.

Gienger has been growing giant gourds since he was 15, but this was his first time winning a pumpkin weighing contest, and his first time entering the California contest. And he says he'll likely be back in 2021.

Tiger King was the second-heaviest ever weighed at Half Moon Bay's weigh off and the heftiest pumpkin weighed in North America this year, according to Tim Beeman, who heads Miramar Events and helps plan the weigh off, as well as the annual festival in Half Moon Bay.

This year's weigh off was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the famed contest went ahead with only growers and press there to witness these giant anomalies of nature.

Gienger is from Anoka, Minnesota, otherwise known as the Halloween Capitol of the World for its famed Halloween parade. This year, the parade enters its 100th year and will feature the giant pumpkin.

"We brought [Tiger King] From the Halloween Capitol of the World, to the Pumpkin Capitol of the World," Gienger said.

It all started with an $80 seed that came from a 1,501 pound pumpkin. And Gienger estimates his champion pumpkin had already expanded to 1,000 pounds in 20 days.

"These pumpkins put on astronomical amounts of weight," Gienger said. "At their peak, they're growing 2-3 pounds an hour."

Originally, the pumpkin was supposed to travel to the New York Botanical Garden to be sculpted and placed on display, but Gienger found out earlier this week that it wouldn't be possible due to COVID-19 concerns.

The 50th annual 2020 Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival would have taken place this Saturday but was also canceled due to the pandemic. The event typically brings around 250,000 people to Half Moon Bay and raises close to $500,000 each year for various charities. Instead the festival's committee launched the Pumpkin Power Project Support Fund, which has raised $300,000 so far.

"I just want to say thanks to Half Moon Bay and all the people around the country and even overseas for all their support," Gienger said. "It’s just been amazing how many people have reached out."