Pumpkin pie is on many tables at Thanksgiving in Canada, but some pumpkins are much too big for any kitchen. Woody Lancaster has grown giant pumpkins for almost 30 years, and he saved his biggest one for last. On October 2, the 80-year-old won a contest at the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts with a pumpkin that weighed 1,178 kilograms (2,598 pounds). It set a new record for the fair and for the whole state.

The pumpkin was about the size of a small car. It beat the fair’s old record of 1,137 kilograms (2,507 pounds), set last year by a grower from Connecticut. Second place went to Larry and Shauna Masters, whose 1,007-kilogram (2,220-pound) pumpkin was called “Toad.” The world record is still higher: 1,279 kilograms (2,819 pounds), set in 2025 by two brothers in England.

The Topsfield Fair is the oldest farm fair in the United States that has run without stopping. Its pumpkin contest is open to members of a club for giant pumpkin growers in New England, the region in the northeast of the U.S. This year, 21 pumpkins were entered. Before the weighing, judges checked each one for holes, soft spots, and rot.

Lancaster’s winning pumpkin started to grow in July, after its flower was pollinated. From then on, it gained about 26 kilograms (58 pounds) a day. “I can take a seed the size of your thumbnail and turn it into a 2,500 pound pumpkin,” he said.

He told reporters that this would be his last contest, so he took more risks than usual. “I did everything I could this year,” he said. His win brought him more than 10,000 U.S. dollars (about 14,000 Canadian dollars) in prize money.

Many growers are getting older, but Lancaster is helping new ones. One of them, 24-year-old Henry Swenson, entered a 565-kilogram (1,246-pound) pumpkin this year.

Giant pumpkins also have a Canadian story. In 1979, Howard Dill, a farmer in Nova Scotia, grew a 195-kilogram pumpkin that broke a record that had lasted for 76 years. He later sold seeds of his own pumpkin variety, the Atlantic Giant, to gardeners around the world. Growers have used those seeds to produce some of the biggest pumpkins ever grown.

Sources: Boston Globe, NBC Boston, WBUR, CBC

Across Canada, Thanksgiving tables will soon be filled with pumpkin pie, but the pumpkins grown by Woody Lancaster were never meant for baking. After nearly three decades in the hobby, the 80-year-old from Topsfield, Massachusetts, entered his final contest on October 2 and won it with a pumpkin weighing 1,178 kilograms (2,598 pounds). That made it the heaviest pumpkin ever grown in Massachusetts, as well as a new record for the Topsfield Fair.

Roughly the size of a compact car, Lancaster’s pumpkin easily beat the fair’s previous best of 1,137 kilograms (2,507 pounds), set last year by a Connecticut grower. Larry and Shauna Masters took second place with a 1,007-kilogram (2,220-pound) entry they had named “Toad.” The world record, however, is higher still: 1,279 kilograms (2,819 pounds), set in 2025 by two brothers in England.

The Topsfield Fair is the oldest continuously running agricultural fair in the United States, with a history of more than 200 years. Its giant pumpkin weigh-off is much newer, and this year’s contest was only the 42nd. Even so, the fair has been the site of a world-record pumpkin seven times, most recently in 2012, when it weighed the first pumpkin ever to top one ton (2,000 pounds, or about 907 kilograms, in the U.S. system). This year’s event drew 21 entries, and judges inspected each one for holes, soft spots, rot, and chemical residue before it was allowed onto the scale.

Lancaster’s winner began growing after it was pollinated in July and went on to gain around 26 kilograms (58 pounds) a day. “I can take a seed the size of your thumbnail and turn it into a 2,500 pound pumpkin,” he said. Knowing it would be his last season, he took more risks than usual. “Being my last year I took a chance … and pushed them,” he explained. The gamble paid off, earning him more than US$10,000 (C$14,000)in prize money.

Lancaster has also noticed a change among growers. “A lot of us are aging out,” he said, but added that, fortunately, young people are getting involved. One of them is Henry Swenson, a 24-year-old he has mentored, who entered a 565-kilogram (1,246-pound) pumpkin this year. In 2021, Swenson set a Guinness World Record with a 29.7-kilogram (65.5-pound) butternut squash.

The modern giant pumpkin also owes a great deal to Canada. In 1979, Nova Scotia farmer Howard Dill grew a 195-kilogram pumpkin that broke a record that had stood for 76 years. He went on to sell seeds of his variety, the Atlantic Giant, to around 10,000 serious gardeners worldwide, and growers have since used his seeds to produce some of the heaviest pumpkins on record.

Sources: Boston Globe, NBC Boston, WBUR, CBC