Pumpkin Regatta's change in date prompts giant interest in gourd races
Record number of participants set to sail in annual Windsor pumpkin race
Nova Scotia's famed giant pumpkin regatta is seeing a surge in interest comparable to when Martha Stewart was supposed to take part. But this year it's not a celebrity driving the number of pumpkin racers — it's simply the date.
The Windsor Pumpkin Regatta is typically held Thanksgiving weekend, but because the holiday comes early this year, organizer Danny Dill decided it was best to delay it for a week and instead go Oct. 15.
"I'm surprised and shocked that it worked out better in a way because we're almost getting a record number of pumpkins booked for the pumpkin regatta," said Dill.
More than 50 teams have signed up to race across Pesaquid Lake from the Falmouth, N.S., side to Windsor in giant pumpkins — far more than last year's 37 entries.
Dill says there hasn't been this much interest in the regatta since 2001. That's when Martha Stewart was supposed to captain a pumpkin-ship, but didn't make it to town. She was delayed first by visa problems and then by bad weather.
"It's going to be a big show," said Dill of the upcoming races.
It's the 19th year for the annual race. Teams slice, gut and paint the pumpkins, turning them into what Dill fondly calls PVCs — Personal Vegetable Crafts.
Dill says organizers won't allow many more entries, simply because moving the gargantuan gourds is a logistical test. It takes upwards of 15 minutes to move the PVCs, which can weigh more than 500 kilograms.
"You get 60, it's probably going to take two hours to unload them."
Despite the surge in interest, Dill says the Thanksgiving tradition will return to the long weekend next year.