If You Want to Compete In The Giant Pumpkin Festival, Start With This Seminar

Sunday, April 27, 2025
McKenna Scherer | photos by Andrea Paulseth | VolumeOne

Chippewa Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers group will host a free-to-attend beginners seminar on May 10

IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN! Seriously, these things are ginormous. If you start soon, you too could be in the running for a state record-breaking pumpkin, facing off against other growers at the River Prairie Giant Pumpkin Festival.

After last year's event saw a state record-breaking giant pumpkin, grown by Jim Ford and weighing in at 2,551 pounds, the River Prairie Ginormous Pumpkin Festival is primed for another exciting event this September. Even if you've never grown a dang thing, you too could become a giant pumpking - just attend this free giant pumpkin growing seminar!

Led by the Chippewa Valley's very own "Pumpkin Guy," Shannon Engel, the Chippewa Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers club is hosting a beginners seminar on Saturday, May 10, in Altoona's River Prairie. If you start growing after taking this seminar, you could have a behemoth of your own to enter into the River Prairie event! (If you've attended any of the past five River Prairie Ginormous Pumpkin Festival events, you may have seen Engel walkin' around in his signature orange suit.)

The Pumpkin Guy, himself!

Engel is a well-versed grower from Menomonie, and has been growing giant pumpkins since 2001. Over the years, he has mentored many other growers, and his pumpkin seeds have been sought out by growers from across the globe - Engel has had pumpkins weigh in at over 1,450 pounds.

The River Prairie Giant Pumpkin Festival has frequently seen pumpkins weigh in between 1,000-2,000 pounds, and also features competitive categories for squash, watermelons, and more. Besides bragging rights, winners also receive cash prizes. The event also hosts a number of other family-friendly activities, but its most dramatic is probably the Ginormous Pumpkin Drop (exactly what it sounds like: a crane will raise a giant pumpkin into the air and let it splat to the delight of onlookers).

According to the Giant Pumpkin Growing for Beginners event page, Engel is prepared to share his top tips and tricks to cultivating award-winning giant pumpkins. The one-hour event will go over how to choose the right seeds; how to prepare the soil; manage growth challenges; and go over seasonal care and nurturing. Oh, and all seminar attendees will be gifted a giant pumpkin plant.

So, whaddya say? Want to grow a giant pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

This is the pumpkin that went splat at the 2021 festival. Pre-splat, obviously.

The Giant Pumpkin Growing for Beginners Seminar is free to attend, and is slated for Saturday, May 10, from 10:30-11:30am in River Prairie, Altoona. Set a reminder for yourself by visiting the event's Facebook page. Take a look at our photoset from last year's River Prairie Giant Pumpkin Festival for a glimpse into the action!

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