The Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival will have its last day on Sunday, October 20th. The festival is held on historic Main Street between Mill and Spruce Streets in Half Moon Bay.
The 52nd annual festival has announced this year’s winning pumpkin on October 14th. The winning pumpkin was grown by four-time champion Travis Gienger from Anoka, Minnesota. It weighed 2471 pounds. The winning prize money for first place was $22,239. The 2nd and 3rd place winners were from nearby Santa Rosa and Napa, California.
The Grand Marshall for this year’s event is former San Francisco Giants great Matt Williams. The pumpkin festival is one of the most popular food festivals in the country, with several events including professional pumpkin carving and various other events.
There are costume and pie eating contests, delicious food areas, and drink areas with something for adults and kids. There are also running races of several distances, a pancake breakfast, pie-eating contests, and a gaming area with a cornhole. And for young people or people of any age, there is even a selfie area to commemorate the event.