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37th annual HALF MOON BAY ART & PUMPKIN FESTIVAL, Oct. 18-19. The World Pumpkin Capital of Half Moon Bay celebrates its bountiful fall harvest and autumn splendor with a spectacular lineup paying homage to the Great Gourd including a special display of massive weigh-off champion pumpkins, three stages of blockbuster entertainment, live music, the Great Pumpkin Parade, a bone-chilling Haunted House, harvest-inspired crafts, homestyle foods, expert pumpkin carvers, photos with the grand champion gourd, pie-eating, carving and costume contests, The Golden Gourds Youth Talent Show, The Take 5 Lounge with giant screen LED TV, special festival-label wines and Mavericks Pumpkin Harvest Ale. Admission is free.
Kicking off the festivities, the 34th annual SAFEWAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PUMPKIN WEIGH-OFF will be held on Monday, October 8 (7 a.m. on the IDES Grounds, 735 Main Street, Half Moon Bay), with $20,000 at stake in this “heavyweight championship” of gargantuan gourds. The world’s’ greatest gourd growers compete for the coveted title and top prize of $6 per pound for the champion. Defending champion (6-time winner) Joel Holland, of Puyalllup, WA, obliterated the field in 2006 with his titanic 1,223-pound Atlantic Giant. The grand champion pumpkin will be on display at the Art & Pumpkin Festival on October 18-19.
Live Music and family-style entertainment on three stages … performing are The Unauthorized Rolling Stones, Just Cream (Cream tribute), Third Stone from the Sun (The Music of Jimi Hendrix), Marcus Scott & Vinyl, The Fabulous CruiseTones, Nigel and Clive and The British Invasion, Dave Crimmen, Jim Stevens, The Chris Cobb Band, True Life Travelers, Grupo La Flota Musical, Edward Dee, HeartStrings Music, Emerson, Bob "Stickman" Culbertson and Fred Anderson. The Family Stage features juggling, comedy, unicycling and magic by the incomparable Grinn & Barrett and The Golden Gourds, a youth talent show featuring singers, dancers, bands, improvisational comedians and poets.
Coastal foods ... tempting pumpkin-infused treats like pumpkin pie, pancakes, ice cream, cake, cheesecake, fudge, sausage, and bread, along with locally grown foods like hearty stews of artichokes and Brussels sprouts, Portobello mushroom sandwiches; also linguisa sausage, roasted turkey drumsticks, hot beef sandwiches, and lots more. Enjoy Half Moon Bay Winery’s festival-label Chardonnay and Half Moon Bay Brewing Company’s Mavericks Pumpkin Harvest Ale, brewed with a variety of pale and crystal malts and pumpkin pulp.
Special attractions ... “Farmer Mike, the Picasso of pumpkin carvers”, photos with the grand champion pumpkin, a bone-chilling Haunted House, create-your-own wax hands art, the Froghopper amusement ride, Mobile Rock’s 24-foot climbing wall, and face-painting.
Events and Contests ... Pancake Breakfast (both days, 7 AM), Costume Contest (Saturday, 10 AM), Great Pumpkin Parade (Saturday, 12 noon), Pie-Eating Contests (Saturday and Sunday, 2 PM both days), 5 & 10k Run (Sunday, 8 AM), and Carving Contest (Sunday, 10 AM).
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