The annual pageant celebrating large vegatables and fruits runs Oct. 4 and 5 Printed Sep 19, 2025 • Final up to date Sep 19, 2025 • 4 minute learn Pumpkinfest founder Doug Courtroom with a 172-pound subject pumpkin he grew in 2023. Photograph by Postmedia recordsdata When he co-founded Port Elgin’s Pumpkinfest in 1986, Doug Courtroom by no means anticipated the occasion would turn out to be the community-wide celebration it’s as we speak, he stated. As Saugeen Shores prepares to mark the fortieth anniversary of the occasion on Oct. 4 and 5, Courtroom credited the complete area with serving to Pumpkinfest to develop and thrive for therefore lengthy now.
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“The community and the area, including other parts of Southwestern Ontario, embraced the unique hobby of growing giant vegetables,” Courtroom stated on Thursday. “Sometimes now when I walk down main street I see people who were little kids back then and they say, ‘Hey Mr. Court I remember when you brought your first pumpkin and I was only five or six.’ Some of those people are now volunteers.” “That gives me the most joy, is seeing young people at a very special event that was small and isolated, and has developed basically into being part of an international hobby.”
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That very first pageant was held in a small nook of Port Elgin’s downtown at Coulter Parkette. It was only a group of locals who wished to show their pumpkins to the group, Courtroom stated.
“I remember we had to do some juggling because we couldn’t find a plug-in for the coffee,” stated Courtroom. “Everyone was standing around with their kids and their little pumpkin projects.”
At this time the pageant attracts tens of 1000’s to Port Elgin, taking up a lot of downtown with occasions and actions for the complete household.
With two Nice Pumpkin Commonwealth worldwide weigh-offs held in the course of the weekend, Pumpkinfest stays centred round its roots in showcasing large produce. However Courtroom stated the numerous spinoff points of interest which have been added through the years make it much more particular.
The Cinderella’s Carriage Traditional Automotive Present options roughly 1,200 autos on show in Port Elgin’s downtown, attracting a mean of 25,000 guests.
“It is the largest in Southwestern Ontario for this time of year,” Courtroom stated of the present.
There’s a halfway, kiddie karnival, child space, petting zoo and pony rides and far more.
A teen performs avenue curling amongst the big crowds at Port Elgin Pumpkinfest on Saturday, October 5, 2024. Photograph by Solar Occasions recordsdata
Stay leisure is a giant a part of the occasion, with Canadian AGT comedy ventriloquist Michael Harrison performing because the pageant’s headliner act on Oct. 4 at 4:30 p.m. The Saturday evening Celebration within the Patch options the music of The Sap Suckers and Gray Highway 1, together with Good Sufficient stay karaoke. People Americana singer-songwriter can also be performing on the pageant this 12 months.
New this 12 months is the Pumpkin Patch Pop Stars youngsters expertise present on the leisure stage on Oct. 5.
“This year we are concentrating more on local talent with the different concert opportunities,” stated Courtroom.
Quite a few teams and organizations are concerned with the occasion, from the police and hearth departments, to the varied service teams and sports activities organizations in the neighborhood.
“We get great support from the community,” Courtroom stated. “The partnerships we have developed for Pumpkinfest to be sustainable is awesome.
“That to me is one of the biggest accomplishments to get the whole community and even those outside the community involved.”
Courtroom, who’s president of Pumpkinfest this 12 months, stated he has many fond reminiscences of the occasion through the years.
A significant private accomplishment for him got here in 2023, when the Nice Pumpkin Commonwealth awarded Courtroom with the Subject Pumpkin Grower of the Yr Award. He earned the honours after having the very best mixed weight of three subject pumpkins that he confirmed at three separate sanctioned weigh offs – in Bracebridge, Port Elgin and Woodbridge.
“The hobby itself has just gone crazy,” Courtroom stated. “Now we are talking 15-pound tomatoes and 300-pound watermelons.
“When I first moved to Bruce County you had difficulty growing a 10-pound watermelon and now I have got them sitting in my garden approaching 200 pounds.
Court said it takes a lot of work by a lot of people to keep Pumpkinfest going and they have been fortunate enough to have strong support from residents, businesses and organizations.
“To be able to sustain yourself is very difficult,” stated Courtroom. “The COVID aspect really changed things with people a little shy about helping where there is a lot of people, but now we are bouncing back from that.”
Courtroom stated the continuing commerce conflict with the U.S. has extra individuals searching for issues to do nearer to house, which bodes nicely for the pageant.
“There is more expectation this year that the special events in Ontario and Canada are going to have a big opportunity,” Courtroom stated. “We have great expectations of a large crowd.”
Courtroom stated with a little bit over two weeks to go preparations for this 12 months’s occasion are nicely underway, with provides being gathered and conferences with native officers being held.
Full Pumpkinfest particulars could be discovered at pumpkinfest.org
Big entries, together with bushel gourds, pumpkins, watermelons and cabbage, on show at Port Elgin Pumpkinfest on Saturday, October 5, 2024. Photograph by Solar Occasions recordsdata
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