Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival

This year marks 16 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. The event is a cross between a Soap Box Derby competition involving amateur building skills and a shot put contest. This is a great opportunity for kids and adults to design and build something and engage in some family friendly competition.

The festival is a one-day event that benefits the Clarina Howard Nichols Center which works to end domestic and sexual violence, human trafficking, and stalking in Lamoille County.

The festival runs from 11am to 4pm and features 3 rounds of chuckin at 12:30pm, 1:30pm and 2:30pm, with awards short after the last round. Prizes are awarded in each division: heavyweight, middleweight open, middleweight junior and lightweight. The winner of each division receives $100 and the best design receives an extra $100.

Admission to the festival is $10, with children 5 years and younger admitted for free. Parking is free. Handicap parking is available, but seating is not provided. Feel free to bring chairs or blankets. No dogs, outside food or beverages are allowed at the event.

Admission is free if you enter the Chili Cookoff. To enter, bring 2 gallons of chili in a crock pot. Attendees will pay to sample the various chilis and vote for their favorites. Chili must be onsite by 11:30am. The top three chilis will win a cash prize ($100, $50, and $25).

Bring your appetite for 6 food trucks and your craft appreciation for over 40 craft vendors. Rounding out the action are 2 bands (OK Commuter and John Smyth), children’s activities, and a volleyball tournament featuring the best players in the state.

The current record for the heavyweight division is a whopping 879 feet, almost 3 football fields!

INFO: Specifications, rules and entry information can be found on the festival blog at VTPumpkinChuckin.blogspot.com or contact the festival organizer at Djordan@gmavt.net.