Belgian Jan Biermans Won the Dutch Open in Breda With a Pumpkin Weighing Almost Eight Hundred and Fifty Kilogrammes
Ten Atlantic Giant pumpkins were lifted onto the scales by forklift, and the winner said he talks to his pumpkin every day even though it does not help.
Belgian grower Jan Biermans won the Open Dutch Pumpkin Growing Championship at Pier15 in Breda on 19 September 2026 with a pumpkin weighing 847.5kg, collecting a prize of 1,500 euros.
Ten giant pumpkins from growers in the Netherlands and Belgium were weighed with a forklift, with a single criterion deciding the title: the heaviest fruit wins. All were of the Atlantic Giant variety. Second place went to Dane Leemans of the Wolfslaar children's farm in Breda, whose pumpkin, named Twannekus Gigantikus, weighed 324kg, according to Omroep Brabant.
Biermans, from Kasterlee, told the broadcaster that the hobby needs plenty of time and a good wife. He spends more than an hour a day tending his plant, which needs about 250 litres of water daily, using rainwater wherever possible. He added that he speaks to his pumpkin every day, admitting that it will not grow any faster as a result.
The winning weight fell well short of the 1,017.5kg record set at the event by Herman Boonen in 2025. The world record, held by an American pumpkin called Muggle, stands at 1,278.8kg.
The champion pumpkin will not go to waste. Biermans plans to hollow it out in late October so that it can be paddled in a pumpkin regatta.