Travis Gienger wins fifth Half Moon Bay pumpkin title with 2,389lb 'Rocky' as Guinness checks record claim

A 2,389-pound (1,083kg) pumpkin named Rocky has won the 53rd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. It gave Minnesota horticulture teacher Travis Gienger the title for the fifth time. Monday's contest on 12 October did not produce a world record. The bigger question in giant pumpkin growing this week is still waiting for an answer: whether Guinness World Records will confirm the 3,156-pound pumpkin weighed in Rhode Island two days earlier.

Gienger's comeback in California

Gienger is from Anoka, Minnesota, and grows his giant pumpkins in his backyard. He drove about 35 hours to bring Rocky to the coastal Californian town, according to the Associated Press. He had missed last year's weigh-off because his pumpkin split while it was still growing.

This win adds to a long record at Half Moon Bay. Gienger's previous winners include Michael Jordan, which weighed 2,749 pounds in 2023 and was a world record at the time. That is still the heaviest pumpkin ever weighed at the event.

The prize money is worked out at US$9 per pound. Gienger also missed out on a US$30,000 bonus that organisers offer for a new world record, because Rocky was hundreds of pounds short of the current mark. Gienger told reporters that temperatures in Minnesota fell below freezing this growing season. He also said that serious competition at the top level would probably mean growing in a climate-controlled setting.

The Rhode Island claim still awaits Guinness

The headline weight of the season so far came on Saturday, 10 October. Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, put a 3,156-pound (about 1,431kg) pumpkin on the scales at the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Growers weigh-off. Wallace grew in a greenhouse for the first time this year.

The AP reported that Guinness had not yet verified the weight and had not replied to its request for comment. Wallace says he was told the record is on track to be confirmed. Until Guinness announces a decision, the official record is the pumpkin of about 1,296kg that Ian Paton of Lymington, England, weighed on 3 October.

For readers following from Malaysia, the figures are big ones. Wallace's pumpkin weighs more than many small cars, and Rocky alone weighs more than a tonne.

A record-breaking month

October 2026 has already been an unusual month for giant vegetables. Paton broke his own world record at the Wargrave weigh-off at the start of the month. A week later, Wallace's pumpkin beat that mark by nearly 300 pounds, if it is ratified.

Gienger did not come close to either weight this time. Even so, five titles at the best-known weigh-off on the US West Coast keep him among the most successful growers in the sport. The Half Moon Bay festivities continue this weekend with a parade through the town.

Key takeaways

• Travis Gienger won the 53rd Half Moon Bay weigh-off on 12 October with Rocky, which weighed 2,389lb (1,083kg).
• It is his fifth Half Moon Bay title, a year after a split pumpkin forced him to miss the contest.
• Rocky was well short of the world record, so Gienger missed the US$30,000 record bonus.
• Ron Wallace's 3,156lb Rhode Island pumpkin had not been verified by Guinness at the time of AP's report.
• Until Guinness rules, Ian Paton's pumpkin of about 1,296kg, weighed on 3 October, is the official record.

FAQ

Who won the 2026 Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-off? Travis Gienger, a horticulture teacher from Anoka, Minnesota, won it with a 2,389lb pumpkin called Rocky. It was his fifth title at the event.

Is Ron Wallace's 3,156lb pumpkin officially a world record? Not yet. The AP reported that Guinness World Records had not verified the weight, although Wallace says he was told it is on track.

What was Gienger's heaviest Half Moon Bay pumpkin? His 2023 winner, Michael Jordan, weighed 2,749lb. It was a world record at the time and is still the heaviest pumpkin weighed at Half Moon Bay.

Sources: Associated Press, Fox 9, Popular Science