Giant 613kg pumpkin sets a new SA record at competition

lucky for Jacob du Plessis, of Villiersdorp, who was crowned the 2019 champion at the ninth annual Giant Pumpkin Festival in Heidelberg at the weekend with a pumpkin weighing in at an astonishing 601.8kg.

“The furthest I have come in the competition before was in 2017 when I came fourth with a pumpkin of over 300kg. I knew my pumpkin was a contender for one of the top three places, but was still surprised when it came out tops. It’s third time lucky, ” said Du Plessis.

The two-day Pumpkin Festival is a one-of-a-kind event with a variety of stalls and activities for the entire family, including an MTB race, trail run, golf competition, bowling competition, 4x4 challenge, potjiekos competition, fun fair and live music.

Second and third place went to husband and wife duo Piet and Elizna Lotz, from Riversdale, with pumpkins weighing 510.6kg and 460.8kg respectively. The winning pumpkin was grown from pumpkin seeds specially harvested from one of last year’s biggest pumpkins at the Heidelberg Giant Pumpkin Competition.

Along with the sought-after title, Du Plessis received R17 500 in cash.

Second and third place received R8 000 and R4 000 respectively. Additional prizes were also awarded for the prettiest and ugliest pumpkins.

In keeping with Heidelberg’s strong community spirit, all proceeds from the festival will be ploughed back into the town.