New State Record Set at Anamosa Pumpkinfest

A new state record was set at Anamosa Pumpkinfest this past weekend.

A pumpkin weighing in at 2,424 pounds took the event title and the state title – even weighing in as the 6th largest pumpkin in the world for 2022.

The record-breaking pumpkin was grown by Peosta resident Pete Caspers. 

Caspers held the previous state record set the week before on September 24th with a pumpkin that weighed 1,840.5 pounds. The previous Anamosa Pumpkinfest record was set in 2020 by a couple from Wisconsin, with a pumpkin that weighed 2,114 pounds.

Every year during the first weekend in October, pumpkin growers from across the state compete in the Ryan Norlin Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off at Pumpkinfest in Anamosa. The top four pumpkins on Saturday’s parade float totaled nearly 8,000 pounds.

And organizers say they also had a state record for long gourds – with the winner, grown by Marc Petersen of Clinton, coming in at 131.75 inches.

photos courtesy of Anamosa Pumpkinfest