Every year, the Bloomsburg Fair holds their annual Giant Pumkin Weigh-Off Competition. This year, Robert Broyan from Berwick won with a 1,217 lb pumpkin.  However, this wasn’t Broyan’s first win. 

Broyan set the record for heaviest pumpkin in Sept. 2023, weighing in at approximately 1,621 lbs. According to the Bloomsburg Fair official Facebook, he grew the pumpkin from a singular “North American Record” seed which cost $90. Broyan began growing the plant five months prior to the competition, Apr. 1. The growing process started inside, until he moved the pumpkin outside into a “4-ft x 10-ft hoop house” on Apr. 28. 

There were 16 pumpkins in total entered. Following Broyan in second place was Jeff Longenberger from Bloomsburg, his pumpkin weighing in at 1,003 pounds. In third, Louise Longenberger from Bloomsburg. The Longenberger family swept first, second and third place in 2024, with Jeff Longenberger taking first place with a 1,308-pound pumpkin. 

Students attending Bloomsburg that aren’t from the area had strong reactions. Christian Giovacchini, a sophomore student originally from Charlotte Hall, Maryland states, “I didn’t think pumpkins could even get that big, it was really neat to see.” Abbey DeLong-Jones, a junior student from Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania claims “Honestly, my jaw was on the floor. When they weighed it, I was in shock.” She continues to say, “How could they have grown a pumpkin that big?”

The Bloomsburg fair is an agricultural fair. The pumpkin contest is a major highlight in the fair, specifically the agriculture building. It offers the opportunity for local farmers to come together and show off their hard work. “The Giant Pumpkin” then proceeds to be an attraction that fair goers come back and see yearly.