Santa Rosa gardener Brandon Dawson, whose pumpkin lost last year’s weigh-off in Half Moon Bay by a scant six pounds, found redemption with a 2,346-pound gourd that won the top prize.
Dawson’s pumpkin this year outweighed his closest challenger by more than 300 pounds and brought in a prize of $21,114. Second place went to Bran Werner of Gridley, for a pumpkin that came in at a mere 2,017 pounds.
The 52nd annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off — also known as the World Heavyweight Championship of Godzilla Gourds — kicks off a week of events culminating with Half Moon Bay’s Art & Pumpkin Festival on October 18-19.
Dawson, a manufacturing engineer for Rivian Automotive, said growing the 123-day-old pumpkin took “tireless and relentless attention to details.”
Hoisting it with a forklift and driving it on a flatbed truck from Sonoma County to Half Moon Bay was “high stress,” he said.
He comes from a family of gardeners and said Monday’s win was especially sweet because in 2024, he entered a 2,465-pound pumpkin that lost by only six pounds to the winning 2,471-pound gourd.
Brandon Dawson, a gardener from Santa Rosa, Calif., and his daughter, Ayla, 3 celebrate after winning the 52nd annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off in Half Moon Bay on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025 with a 2,346-pound pumpkin. Dawson’s pumpkin outweighed his closest challenger by more than 300 pounds and brought in a prize of $21,114. Second place went to Bran Werner of Gridley, for a pumpkin that weighed a mere 2,017. (Megalith via Bay City News)
That said, Dawson said he was looking forward to taking a break from the stressful and time- consuming process of championship pumpkin growing.
One of the contest prizes is a few nights at the Ritz Carlton, he said, adding “We are going to pick a weekend and not do any gardening.”
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