No weigh. Weigh!!! Bring it on burly, beefy, bodacious behemoths! The excitement is building in Pumpkintown as the World’s Greatest Gourd Growers and their Goliath, mind-bending, Rhinoceros-sized orange orbs orbs hope to squash the world record on Monday, October 9 at the 50th Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off –– the “Super Bowl of Weigh-Offs” –– in the World Pumpkin Capital of Half Moon Bay, California.

Using a pay-by-the-pound system, a top prize of $9/pound will be awarded to the 2023 weigh-off champion thanks to title sponsor, Safeway. Also at stake are thousands of dollars in super hefty prize money doled out to the top 20 plus the big carrot: a $30,000 total mega-prize for a new world record pumpkin entered at Half Moon Bay (the current world record is 2,703-pounds set at a 2021 weigh-off in Italy).

Defending champion Travis Gienger’s leviathan 2,560-pound mega-gourd set a new North American record and handily won the 2022 Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay.

The weighing of pumpkins will begin around 7am and anticipate ending the weighing around 11am followed by the awards presentation and luncheon.

A host of accomplished veteran growers are expected to contend for the coveted title. The champion will be feted and play a starring role in the world-famous Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, Oct. 14-15 (including a free weekend at the posh, pumpkin-centric Ritz-Carlton on the stunningly beautiful Half Moon Bay coast).

Beauty will share center stage with beefy brawn with a $1000 prize awarded for the “Joe Cotchett Family Most Beautiful Pumpkin” as judged by the audience based on color, shape and size.

Additional special bonus prizes include: Biggest California Pumpkin — $1,000; Biggest Coastside Pumpkin — $1,000.

Using forklifts and special harnesses, the gargantuan gourds will be carefully placed on a 5-ton capacity, industrial-strength digital scale under the watchful eye of officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office of Weights, Sealers, and Measures. Half Moon Bay’s Weigh-Off will serve as an officially sanctioned Great Pumpkin Commonwealth (GPC) site.

The grand champion gourd (along with the top four overall) will be on display plus there’s a special weigh-off champion pumpkin photo booth at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, October 14-15, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Main Street.

Admission is free. Open to the public.