Allardt Great Pumpkin Festival and weigh-off evolved from a local 1991 event into a nationally recognized competition where elite genetics and intensive cultivation produce pumpkins weighing over 2,000 pounds.
Fentress County UT Extension County Director John Gunter said this weekend’s event is now affiliated with the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth to ensure results are considered competitive fruit on a national level.
“When you get a pumpkin that weighs a ton it just captivates people’s eyes,” Gunter said. “And it’s the fall time of the year and everybody just it’s just magical to watch the kids, especially the young kid.”
Gunter said growers often spend approximately one dollar per pound to produce these giant fruits, meaning a 1,000-pound pumpkin represents a $1,000 investment in fertilizer and supplies. The most critical factor is the genetic lineage of the seed, which can sell for as much as $5,000 at specialized auctions.
“These are genetic lines that people all over the country keep and they have these seed auctions and raffles daily in February,” Gunter said. “You can log on to bigpumpkins.com and you can go in and watch live as these seeds just go for what in my estimation very high dollars and stuff.”
Gunter said the plants require roughly 300 square feet of space and daily irrigation to maintain health during the peak growing season. Some pumpkins have been recorded gaining between 45 and 50 pounds per day in the weeks leading up to a competition.
“The grower’s got to keep, most of the time and what’s happening what we see across the country now is a lot of folks are growing these things in greenhouses completely,” Gunter said. “Constantly every day there’s, as far as daily maintenance and stuff you’re talking about the irrigation making sure that plant has plenty of water.”
Gunter said environmental factors like extreme heat or pests such as cucumber beetles can destroy months of work in a single morning. The festival has expanded to include categories for watermelons, squash, and various types of gourds alongside the primary pumpkin weigh-off.
“If you get a chance to come to the weigh-off, it’ll blow your mind the number of people that are there and then the massive size of these fruit that folks will bring out,” Gunter said. “It’s a lot better experience than it is to be told about.”
The event concludes with a festival parade featuring the champion and reserve pumpkins. Gunter said the festival attracts between 15,000 and 18,000 visitors to the area Saturday.