The Pumpkin Crown Is Up for Grabs at the 119th Circleville Pumpkin Show

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CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — A year ago, Mike and Dusti Helberg put a 1,972-pound giant on the scales and owned the Circleville Pumpkin Show. This year, after a growing season the show’s own organizers call challenging, the crown is wide open.

The 119th Circleville Pumpkin Show runs Wednesday through Saturday, October 21 to 24, and it starts the way it always starts: with the giant pumpkin weigh-in on Wednesday morning at Main and Court. What nobody knows, organizers included, is what the growers are bringing.

“Following last year’s impressive 1,972-pound winning pumpkin grown by Mike and Dusti Helberg, we’re looking forward to seeing what our growers bring to the scales Wednesday morning,” the show’s PR committee said. “The growing season has presented some challenges this year, so it should make for an interesting weigh-in. That’s part of the excitement, you never quite know what to expect until the pumpkins arrive.”

The biggest change this year comes before the show even opens. The opening ceremony has moved to Tuesday, October 20, at 5 p.m. at Pumpkin Show Park, followed by a special parade, “Pumpkin Show Celebrates 250 Years of Agriculture,” led by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit, with farmers showing off antique agricultural equipment. America’s 250th anniversary runs through the week in patriotic categories in several traditional contests and displays, plus a “Red, White and Winky” downtown window decorating contest.

New this year is the show’s first-ever Talent Contest, Thursday at noon at the Savings Bank Stage.

Downtown starts becoming the Pumpkin Show this Saturday, October 17, when streets close at 1 p.m. and the wiring, vendor tents, and amusement rides start going up. Everything has to be in place by Tuesday afternoon, when the midway opens at 5 p.m. More than 300 vendors will line about nine square blocks of downtown, 37 of them serving some kind of pumpkin food, and the giant pumpkin pie at Lindsey’s Bakery remains a required stop.

For first-timers, the show’s advice is simple: check the schedule at pumpkinshow.com before you come, wear comfortable shoes, and take a picture of where you parked. Community organizations run paid lots on surrounding streets and shuttle services are available.

And once the gates open, the work does not stop. Volunteers run nearly everything, from the parades and contests to the information and souvenir booths, while crews keep the streets, restrooms, and show grounds clean all week. It is, as the committee puts it, the dedication of those volunteers that makes the whole thing possible.

Source: Circleville Pumpkin Show PR Committee. Photos: Pickaway County Visitors Bureau.

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