A Gardener Grew a Prizewinning Pumpkin the Weight of a Small Car
Brandon Dawson took home more than $2,000 at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off.
Photo courtesy of The Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off
Oh … my … gourd. Whatever size pumpkin you bought to carve into a jack-o’-lantern for Halloween this year — even if you splurged on the biggest one you could find — Brandon Dawson’s prize-winning pumpkin almost assuredly dwarfs it by comparison.
The Santa Rosa, California, gardener, whose day job is working as a mechanical engineer at electric car manufacturer Rivian Automotive, collected first prize and “champion” bragging rights at the 2025 Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, near San Francisco, on Monday, October 13.
His winning pumpkin tipped the scales at a breathtaking 2,346 pounds — about as much as a small car. Talk about a great pumpkin!
Last year, Dawson entered a pumpkin that came in second, losing top honors by just six pounds. This year, though, he won the marquee “Open Division” competition decisively and took home $21,114 in prize money. If that number sounds a bit specific, it’s because the weigh-off’s first place prize money is calculated according to a “pay-by-the-pound” system; the champion receives $9 per pound for the prize-winning pumpkin, which adds up fast.
For winning top honors, Dawson also won a Pumpkin King Champion Ring, a Mel Mello Sr. Grand Champion Growers Jacket and “two nights at the posh luxury hotel The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay and a starring role in the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival and Great Pumpkin Parade,” according to the competition’s website.
Dawson collected an additional $1,000 for a first place win in the “Biggest from State of California” category.
Photo courtesy of The Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off
Other key facts about the 2025 Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off:
- The pumpkin weighing kicked off at about 7 a.m. and was anticipated to wrap up around 11 a.m. The awards presentation and a luncheon followed. Forklifts and harnesses were used to transport the massive gourds onto a 5-ton capacity, industrial-strength digital scale. The proceedings were overseen by officials from the San Mateo County Agricultural Commissioner's Office of Weights, Sealers, and Measures.
- Other winners in the “Open Division” included a 2,017-pound pumpkin grown by Brian Werner, of Gridley, California, who took home the $3,000 second place prize, and a 1,805-pound gourd entered by Linden Fowler of Napa, California, who took home $2,500.
- A $500 prize was also given to the pumpkin considered the “most beautiful.” That honor was claimed by David Schuman of Morgan Hill, California.
- Noting that giant pumpkins grow quickly, as much as 50 to 70 pounds per day, Dawson told the Associated Press that he enjoyed involving his 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter (who clambered on top of the gargantuan gourd for photos following the competition) in the growing process. “We like to spend time out in the patch and watch the thing grow,” Dawson said.
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