Fall weather and giant pumpkins drew hundreds of people to Holdrege on Saturday for the Nebraska Prairie Museum’s annual Fall Festival, featuring arts and crafts, food and other seasonal activities. Fall officially began earlier in the week on Sept. 22.
“So this is our annual fall festival. We have this every year, this time of year. And it’s a great opportunity to come and visit the Nebraska Prairie Museum,” said Micah Huyser, the museum’s executive director.
A centerpiece of the day was the Nebraska largest pumpkin growers competition, a weigh-off officially sanctioned by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth. Great Pumpkin Commonwealth weigh-offs were being held in other locations across the country and world on Saturday.
“So this year we will once again crown the largest pumpkin of Nebraska by official weight,” Huyser said.
Growers competed for a cash prize and the 2026 title.
Smithfield competitor Rod Renken entered a pumpkin he named ‘Henry’, which weighed 224 pounds. Renken said getting it to Holdrege was a challenge.
“I rolled it into my lawnmower trailer and it worked really well. It was kind of just about too big for me to roll by myself, but I got it done,” Renken said.
Renken said it was his first year entering the contest.
“This was my first year trying it. I’m a greenhorn pumpkin farmer,” he said.
The competition also included experienced veterans, including Wyoming grower France Stinchcomb, who grows two giant pumpkins every year.
“I’m part of the Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers Club… Wyoming is part of it, and I think Nebraska…They grow giant vegetables,” Stinchcomb said.
Stinchcomb’s pumpkin, named ‘Taz’ after the Tasmanian devil, weighed just short of 1,000 pounds. He said he began growing it after getting a seed from another pumpkin grower in Cheyenne.
“I started… at the end of April and then picked it yesterday,” Stinchcomb said.
The massive pumpkin drew attention from festivalgoers, including young attendee Eli Olsen, who asked, “How did you guys grow this?” Olsen said it was the biggest pumpkin he had ever seen.
Stinchcomb’s entry won first place, earning him the title of Nebraska’s largest pumpkin. Asked how he felt after the win, he said, “Feeling great.”
Stinchcomb said he planned to take Taz back to Wyoming and put it on display for kids.
“I’m going to carve it and put it out in front of my house so all the kids can come and jump on it, do whatever they want. Take pictures,” he said.
