Winner of B.C.'s giant pumpkin contest crowned

A woman from Vancouver Island has the massive honour of taking home this year's prize for B.C.'s heaviest giant pumpkin after an annual contest over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Kerri Perras hauled the gargantuan gourd – which she named Walter – all the way from her backyard in Campbell River to Langley, turning heads along the way.

"People saw him. Ferry workers were congratulating me this morning, they were like, 'woohoo' as I'm leaving the ferry today," Perrah said.

Walter a Giant Atlantic, weighed in at 1,152 pounds, beating out the second-place pumpkin by 128 pounds.

"It's a great thing to win first place and to have a personal best is even better," Perras said, explaining that genetics and good soil likely were likely some of the factors that helped Walter achieve such a stupendous size.

"Taking the time in the pumpkin patch every day is really the thing," she added.

The 2023 contest took place at Krause Berry Farms in Langley on Saturday, and saw the hefty contestants weighed on in industrial scale. Other categories on the weekend competition included prettiest pumpkin, longest gourd and giant watermelon. The event, according to the website, is the only certified one of its kind in Western Canada.

As for what's next for Walter? Perras says the gourd is headed back to the Island but to a new home at Coastal Black Winery, which has an annual pumpkin fest.

"I could put it in my front yard for Halloween, but I would rather, actually, a bunch of kids enjoy it, see it," she said.

"And I don't want to have to deal with trying to figure out what to do with it after. It's really nice to have them take care of it for me."