SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – The fairy godmother may turn her pumpkins into carriages... but pumpkin growers on turned theirs into boats Saturday for the second annual Pumpkin Regatta at Sugar House Park.
“We take these pumpkins, we carve them out and we race them as boats,” said organizer Brad Davis. “Why? Just for fun because what else are we going to do with 1,400 pound pumpkins?”
Pumpkin enthusiasts and husband and wife Kyle and Carrie Fox have waited all year for this but making that first cut was tough.
“She got a little teary-eyed when we started to cut it open today,” said Kyle Fox, The Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers.
Hundreds of curious people came out to see with their own eyes as adults and little kids jumped in their pumpkins and paddled hard.
Ross Bowman of Brigham City won the regatta. Prizes for race winners and spectators include lift passes and learn to ski packages from park city mountain resort, gift certificates and food packages from whole foods in sugar house, protein and body supplement drinks from muscle milk and whole food meal bars from Probar.
The racers say the giant gourds take skill to grow, but the best part is having everyone enjoy them.
“It's the love of the pumpkin first,” said Carrie Fox, The Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers. “Then I think sharing it’s with everyone else.”
