CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — The Circleville Pumpkin Show kicked off Wednesday with a familiar scene: Dr. Bob Liggett winning the top prize for the biggest pumpkin grown that year.

What You Need To Know

  • Circleville Pumpkin Show is a four-day festival that started in 1903

  • More than 400,000 are expected to attend

  • Dr. Bob Liggett won the giant pumpkin contest, weighing in at 1,837.5 pounds

His 1,837.5-pound pumpkin dwarfed the second-place finisher by 400 pounds. 

Liggett, whose goal is to someday grow a one-ton pumpkin, has now won the competition 15 times in 29 years and three of the last four. He set the show record in 2014 with a 1,964 pound behemoth. 

"I've entered 29 years. My first pumpkin weighed 188 pounds," Liggett said. "It's so much fun. It's one of those things that, this is the heart and soul of Circleville. What do you think about in Circleville? Well, the Pumpkin Show."

After being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, this is the second year back for the Circleville Pumpkin Show, which runs through Saturday. Organizers expect more than 400,000 people to attend the annual show, which dates back to 1903.

While the giant pumpkin weigh-in starts the festivities, there are parades, rides, performances and vendors scheduled throughout the four-day event.

Pumpkin-based foods, including items like pumpkin fudge and pumpkin nachos, are a big draw for the vendors.

Renee McIlroy, who is married to Circleville Mayor Donald McIlroy, volunteers at one of the booths and said the show has a huge economic impact for the community.

“(The) Pumpkin show is just a tremendous economic boost for this community and it is based on all things pumpkin everything," said McIlroy. "As long as I have been involved with athletic boosters we have done the pumpkin breads … there is a large variety of pumpkin foods, some sound kind of crazy and some taste better than you think.”  

Wednesday's schedule will be capped off with the crowning of 2022's Miss Pumpkin Show.

The Pumpkin Show runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. You can find the full schedule of events at the show's website.