Foreman Brian Werner from Biggs, California, took home the grand prize at the 2025 Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival. Werner’s winning pumpkin, an Atlantic Giant Pumpkin, shattered the record for the event at a weight of 2,147 pounds and 206.5 inch diameter.
BIGGS, Calif. – Brian Werner from Biggs has set a new record at the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival with his massive 2,147-pound Atlantic Giant pumpkin.
The pumpkin measured 206.5 inches around, making it the largest ever recorded in the festival’s 31-year history. Werner took home a $7,000 prize for his accomplishment.
Werner shared his strategy for growing such an enormous pumpkin, saying, “You need a 30 by 30 foot area, and you need to bury the vine.” He added that the chosen pumpkin should be 15 feet from where the vine emerges from the ground.
Werner got into pumpkin growing after his dad bought him some seeds from Canada when he was a child. He took a few years off, but has been back at it since 2020.