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PHOTO: Matt Holmes grew this 804 pound fortune teller pumpkin — her sign says “seediing into the future” — for the 2022 Damariscotta Pumpkinfest. Artists working on finishing touches are Deb Arter and Denise Seibert. (Bill Van Tassel photo)
By Bill Van Tassel
DAMARISCOTTA — How do you get a pumpkin to grow to 2,000 pounds? You may want to ask WGME meteorologist Charlie Lopresti, who won this year’s heaviest pumpkin competition at the 2022 Damariscotta Pumpkinfest, with one that weighs more than a ton – 2,080 pounds.
That may have been the biggest, but there was plenty more to see among the more than 70 pumpkins featured at Damariscotta’s annual week-long festival celebrating the pumpkin.
This year’s festival was Oct. 1-9, with a weigh-off the first weekend, pumpkin deployment on Main Street on Thursday, artists decorating the pumpkins on Friday, and a Main Street parade of pumpkin-themed floats on Saturday of Indigenous People’s Day weekend. It all ends with a Sunday regatta, with larger pumpkins, hollowed out and fashioned into sea-worthy vessels, race in Damariscotta Harbor, powered by paddles or even a small outboard motor.
This year’s pumpkins ranged from 2,080 down to 69 pounds, and a variety of designs including a purple Geode, a Doghouse, or a Yellow Submarine.
The Pumpkinfest has been featured in national television broadcasts and attracts thousands of tourists from far and wide. Visitors amble along Main Street’s sidewalks and the shops, enjoying the fanciful embellishments that the artists have made to these orange giants of the squash family.
BELOW: Leo Fleming, of Jefferson, helps with outfitting the pumpkin decorated by artists Alyson Graham and Martha May Lane, with an oyster theme. Andy Cozzi was the grower of the 376-pound squash.
Weighing in at 695 pounds (and 2 ounces for the nose ring) is this giant, grown by Richard Powell. Moe Augur did the carving.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds was responsible for “Pupkins,” fashioned into a couple cute canines and their home. The 442-pound pumpkin was decorated by Terri Paiva.
Emily Harper put her artistic talents to work on this UFO pumpkin, which started as a Johnny’s Selected Seed and grew to 298 pounds.
Still influencing artists, the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine appeared in the form of a 2022 Damariscotta Pumkinfest entry. The 700-pound squash was grown by Richard Powell; artists were Mindy Starr-Pfahler and Hope Prentice. (Bill Van Tassel photos)
