1.28 t2,820 lb
The world-record pumpkin weighed 1,278.8 kg (2,819 lb). British twins Ian and Stuart Paton grew it in a greenhouse in Hampshire and weighed it at Wargrave, Berkshire, on 6 October 2025. Nicknamed Muggle, it beat Travis Gienger’s 2023 record of 1,246.9 kg (2,749 lb) by about 32 kg (70 lb).
| Ian and Stuart Paton, UK, 2025Current record, nicknamed Muggle | 1.28 t2,820 lb |
|---|---|
| Travis Gienger, USA, 2023Nicknamed Michael Jordan | 1.25 t2,750 lb |
| Stefano Cutrupi, Italy, 20212,702.9 lb | 1.23 t2,700 lb |
| Mathias Willemijns, Belgium, 20162,624.6 lb | 1.19 t2,620 lb |
| Ron Wallace, USA, 2012First record over 2,000 lb | 911 kg2,010 lb |
| William Warnock, Canada, 1904An early record, 403 lb | 183 kg403 lb |
Ian and Stuart Paton, 64-year-old twins from Lymington in the New Forest, presented their pumpkin at the Wargrave Nursery Giant Vegetable Weigh-off near Reading on 6 October 2025. It weighed 1,278.8 kg (2,819 lb 4 oz), and with a girth of 649.8 cm (21 ft 3.8 in) it also took the Guinness record for largest pumpkin circumference.
It was the first time British growers held the heaviest pumpkin record. The Patons have grown giant vegetables together for more than 50 years, since their early teens. They raise their pumpkins in a greenhouse to get around the cool, changeable English summer, which Guinness World Records calls a key factor in reaching such a size. Muggle is still the record holder as of early October 2026.
The previous record belonged to Travis Gienger, a horticulture teacher at Anoka Technical College in Minnesota. His pumpkin, named Michael Jordan after the basketball player who wore number 23, weighed 2,749 lb (1,246.9 kg) at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, on 9 October 2023. It measured 642.6 cm around and beat Stefano Cutrupi’s 2021 pumpkin from Italy, 2,702.9 lb (1,226 kg), by 47 lb (21 kg).
Gienger won $30,000, and NBC News worked out that his pumpkin held enough flesh for at least 687 pies. After a Halloween parade in Anoka, it was carved into a giant jack-o’-lantern in Clarence, New York, on 8 November 2023, with proceeds going to veterans’ charities.
Record pumpkins are not the orange field pumpkins sold for Halloween. They are a cultivar of Cucurbita maxima, mostly Howard Dill’s Atlantic Giant line, bred for size. Growers keep just one fruit on each vine so the whole plant feeds it, and the season from planting to weigh-off runs around 130 to 140 days.
Most of the weight is water, up to 94%, and in midsummer a giant pumpkin can put on about 50 lb (23 kg) a day. Gienger’s 2023 pumpkin peaked at a reported 66 lb (30 kg) a day; he watered his plants up to 12 times a day and spent about $15,000 on feeding and care.
Ian and Stuart Paton’s pumpkin Muggle weighed 2,819 lb 4 oz (1,278.8 kg) at Wargrave, UK, on 6 October 2025.
Travis Gienger’s pumpkin from Minnesota, which weighed 2,749 lb (1,246.9 kg) at Half Moon Bay, California, on 9 October 2023. It held the record for two years.
At their peak, giant pumpkins can gain about 50 lb (23 kg) a day. Gienger’s 2023 record pumpkin reportedly reached 66 lb (30 kg) a day.
Almost all record pumpkins are Atlantic Giants, a variety of Cucurbita maxima selected by the grower Howard Dill. They are bred for size, not flavor.
You can, but they are mostly water and not very tasty. Most end up on display, carved, or used for pumpkin boat races and pumpkin chucking.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
