While most people who grow pumpkins are looking to harvest gourds that children can carry home and carve, Ron Wallace is looking to grow pumpkins that require several farmhands and a forklift to carry.<\/p>\n
Wallace, 61, of Greene, Rhode Island, achieved his goal. He produced a 3,156-pound pumpkin this year \u2014 the world\u2019s largest pumpkin to date \u2014 earning his third Guinness World Record title.<\/p>\n
The pumpkin will be on display at the Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkin Festival on Saturday and Sunday in the Strip District\u2019s Stack Courtyard. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n
It was grown from the seed of a pumpkin that weighed more than 2,700 pounds. Wallace attributes the pumpkin\u2019s size to \u201ca good seed and good soil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallace\u2019s last record-breaking pumpkin was grown in 2012 and broke barriers by being the first pumpkin to exceed 2,000 pounds. His 2006 pumpkin was the first to break 1,500 pounds.<\/p>\n
Pumpkin growing is more than just work for Wallace, who says the business runs in his family and is something he and his dad used to bond over.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did everything together,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cWe always enjoyed the process along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallace\u2019s dad died in 2024, but pumpkin growing is something Wallace can never give up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly not the same without him,\u201d he said. \u201cI still carry on because I love doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wallace said he is most excited to see people\u2019s wonder and joy at the Pittsburgh Monster Pumpkin Festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody loves a pumpkin,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n
Similarly, festival producer Michael Dongilli said everybody \u2014 especially in Pittsburgh \u2014 \u201cloves a good festival,\u201d making the Strip District the perfect place for the ninth annual Monster Pumpkin event.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething about this city,\u201d Dongilli said. \u201cRain or shine, they\u2019ll come out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival will boast several attractions that guests can enjoy for free, including more than 70 food and drink vendors and craftsman, a massive pumpkin pulling contest, a pumpkin slingshot, a pie-eating contest, and a \u201cpumpkin drop,\u201d where organizers will hoist one-ton pumpkins 200 feet into the air and drop them into a pool of water for spectators to see.<\/p>\n
Those willing to spend $5 can enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride.<\/p>\n
Chiefly, the festival will recognize the efforts of the pumpkin farmers who brought thousands of pounds of pumpkins with a display near the festival entrance.<\/p>\n
For Wallace, who has been growing pumpkins competitively for 35 years, this year\u2019s festival marks his greatest achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been competitive,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cAnd nothing pushes you more to compete than a giant pumpkin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While most people who grow pumpkins are looking to harvest gourds that children can carry home and carve,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-308010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}