Whopper! Kyogle pumpkin breaks southern hemisphere record

A festival all about huge vegetables has become a signature event for the village.

Dale Oliver's record-breaking pumpkin.

Weighing in at 867kg, Dale Oliver’s huge pumpkin at Kyogle’s Summerland Pumpkin Competition was as heavy as a great white shark, a brown bear or a large crocodile.

It was a whopper, breaking the southern hemisphere record ‒ along with the Australian and NSW records ‒ for the largest pumpkin.

The previous record was also Dale’s, with a pumpkin that weighed 743kg.

As usual the pumpkins attracted plenty of attention in the village, but it wasn’t all about enormous vegetables.

Kyogle was a hive of activity on Saturday with country music, classic cars, sports cars and hot rods, cooking competitions and art.

The Summerland Pumpkin Festival was organised by a team of people, including John Leadbeatter, Helen Goebel and Chris Pike, with support from the Tidy Towns team.

Mayor Danielle Mulholland thanked the team, but also made special mention of Steve Leadbetter, who she believed was the “heart” of the event.

“Steve made the pumpkin festival,” she posted on her Facebook page.

“He brought it back from Lismore to Kyogle … he has been driving the pumpkin festival for years now.

“He sources the seeds for people to grow these specific type of pumpkins, provides advice on how to grow them and has promoted the festival.

“Steve is the man behind the scenes and deserves the accolades for co-ordinating a festival that has become a signature event for Kyogle.”