This year marks 14 years of the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin Festival which was awarded USA Today's best fall festival in the nation. This festival celebrates the sport of "chuckin" pumpkins, for distance, using a do-it-yourself constructed trebuchet, which is a gravity powered catapult. Inventors, engineers, woodworkers and tinkerers are challenged to use gravity in creative ways to throw a projectile as far as possible. The contraptions have height and weight limits but no limits on design or materials used. Festival founder Dave Jordan describes the event as a cross between a Soap box Derby (amateur building/engineering) and a shot put contest (throwing for distance). The current record for the massive heavyweight division was set last year by Jonathan Stapleton at 792 feet! His son, Orion Stapleton threw 473 feet in the middleweight division and won the best design with a height-adjusted throw of 810 feet!
The festival is a one-day event that benefits the Clarina Howard Nichols Center. Founded in 1981, the Center works to end domestic and sexual violence in Lamoille County.
Mark your calendar for Sunday, October 1st, 2023. The festival runs from 11am to 4pm and features three rounds of competitive pumpkin chuckin at 12:30pm, 1:30pm and 2:30pm, with awards shortly after the last round. No outside food or beverage are allowed at the event.
New to the festival this year is a craft fair with over 35 vendors participating. Attendees can purchase amazing Vermont made products including candles, jewelry, maple syrup, pottery, artwork, clothing, and so much more. Last year's 3 food trucks were a big success, so we've expanded to 7 this year. Bring your appetite and enjoy food from Vermont vendors – The Melted Cheesiere, Taco Truck All Stars, Pizza Bottega, Mediterranean Mix, Green Mountain Kettle Corn, Street Treats Ice Cream Truck, and Jenna's Promise Roasting Co.
Back again from last year are announcers Sean Morrissey and Jake St. Pierre of the award-winning local TV program "Grand Isle Back Yard". Along with the pumpkin chuckin contest there will be live music, a chili cook-off with cash prizes, a giant robot demo and kids' activities; all creating an enjoyable fall day. Music for this year's festival will be provided by two bands: Kirkland the band and John Smyth. Green Mountain Volleyball will be running a volleyball tournament featuring the best players in the state. Check their website at gmvb.com for details. There is plenty of time to build a fine trebuchet or prepare your best chili for the chili cookoff. Pre-registration is not required for the trebuchet contest or chili cookoff.
It costs $10 to enter the festival if you are a spectator (children 5 years and younger are free), trebuchet or volleyball competitor, but you get in free if you make 2 gallons of chili and compete in the chili cookoff. Chili must be on-site by 11:30am. Parking is free.
Specifications, rules, and entry information can be found on the festival's website at
www.vtpumpkinchuckin.blogspot.com or contact the festival organizer Dave Jordan, at Djordan@gmavt.net. Questions about the chili cookoff, craft fair, and food vendors can be sent to chndrivevt@gmail.com.