Every third Sunday of October, a lake in this Portland suburb fills with vessels no boat insurer would ever approve: hollowed-out pumpkins, some weighing close to half a ton, each paddled by an adult in costume.
Sunday's 22nd running of the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta packed Lake of the Commons for races at noon and 2 p.m., the culmination of a tradition that traces back to 2004, when grower Jim Sherwood and friends, inspired by a similar event in Canada, carved out a few oversized gourds and paddled them across the water for fun.
The pumpkins themselves come from members of the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers, who spend the summer coaxing squash past 900 pounds before handing them over to be gutted, seeded and converted into makeshift canoes. The seeds are saved for next year's crop; the boats, after the race, are composted.
Entry is capped and competitive. Adult paddlers must be 18 or older, must wear family-friendly costumes, and can only propel their pumpkins using their own strength — no motors, no shortcuts. The handful of public slots are awarded by lottery, with this year's application window closing in early September. Growers with their own prize pumpkins can paddle those instead.
"The chaotic, but hilarious, race grew into what is now the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta."
Associated Press, via DOGOnews
Among the regulars is Gary Kristensen, a veteran of the lake who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest journey ever paddled in a pumpkin boat: 58 miles down the Columbia River, set in May 2025. He has also won past regatta heats dressed as Buddy the Elf.
The weekend's festivities began Saturday with a separate weigh-off and tasting event at a local brewery, where growers' pumpkins were measured before Sunday's dunking. Whatever doesn't become a boat, residents say, usually becomes pie.
