PREVIEW

1 tonne pumpkin wins California's World Championship weigh-off. A grower from northern California has been crowned champion at this year’s Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off after his enormous autumnal gourd tipped the scales at more than a tonne. The annual competition, held in Half Moon Bay on 13 October saw growers from across the United States bring their biggest pumpkins to compete for the title of heaviest in the world. Brandon Dawson, from Santa Rosa, took first place with a pumpkin weighing an extraordinary 2,346 pounds (1,064 kg), earning him $21,114 (£17,000) in prize money, calculated at $9 per pound. Dawson improved on his runner-up finish from last year, finally taking home the top prize at the 52nd edition of the event. The Guinness World Record for the heaviest pumpkin still stands at 2,749 pounds (1,247 kg), set in 2023 by Ken Gienger of Minnesota, who also claimed victory at last year’s weigh-off with a 2,471-pound entry.