Biggest pumpkin competition
The second annual Giant Pumpkins Ireland competition will take place in Collon on Sunday, October 8th.
The ginormous autumn squashes will be officially weighed at and event in the Irish Military War Museum - and the competition looks set to be fierce as local growers keep their fingers crossed that theirs will be the biggest.
Challengers from all the four corners of Ireland will attend, pitting their horticultural wits against one another each vying to see their pumpkin season crowned with success.
The competition will coincide with a Pick a Pumpkin and Play All Day Event at the Museum on Saturday and Sunday, October 7th and 8th from 12pm to 5pm.The cost is €10 per child and includes unlimited access onto all of the bouncy castles and obstacle courses as well as a pumpkin of your choice.
Adults go free and no tickets are needed for this event, you can pay on the day, pick your pumkin and play away.
The Giant Pumpkin Class will likely be dominated by Louth’s own Lord of the Gourd, three times record holder Michéal Byrne.
Tight lipped about his chances Michéal has ‘one or two decent ones’.
Similar remarks were said in 2016 before doing the impossible and producing two half ton pumpkins in one year , smashing his previous Irish record with a 1166lb behemoth.
The Outdoor field pumpkin class has been a more open competition , in 2016 a novice grower Daireen Caffery of Greystones, Co Wicklow , defied the odds and set a new Irish record. New to 2017’s line up of events is the Novice Class for growers with less than two years experience.
There will be a cash prizefunds of €100 on the day have been sponsored by Douglas Nursery Ardee and the Irish Military War Museum.