Driftless Area Biggest Pumpkin Contest, Lansing Harvest Fest taking place Saturday

The Driftless  Area Biggest Pumpkin Contest is scheduled to be held this Saturday, September 24 in Lansing. Part of Lansing’s Harvest Fest, the Biggest Pumpkin Contest will begin weighing pumpkins at 9 a.m. and will weigh all pumpkins that arrive up until 12 noon. The Big Pumpkin Contest had been hosted by TASC, Inc. in Waukon for the past several years, but is now under the direction of Main Street Lansing.

The biggest pumpkin by weight will win $500, second place wins $100 and third place wins $50. The weigh-in area is at the corner of Main and Front Streets in Lansing with the pumpkins being displayed there after the contest. There is no pre-registration necessary - just show up with a big pumpkin. Pumpkins must be intact without holes or cracks, and there is a suggested $10 weighing fee donation.

Kids can get in on a special Biggest Pumpkin Contest with a $50 Grand Prize donated by Craig White and Gary Kerndt. The pumpkin grower must be 12 years of age or younger. Weigh-in for that contest is also between 9 a.m. and 12 noon at the same location.

The Lansing Harvest Fest takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, along with the Biggest Pumpkin Contest.  The Fest will feature the Lansing Farmers Market and a Pumpkin Bake Sale by local churches and Main Street Lansing at the Main Street Plaza, located on the corner of Main and Third Streets.

Children are invited to Paint A Pumpkin starting at noon, with $50 in prizes for the Best Painted Pumpkin donated by Craig White and Gary Kerndt.

Haefner’s Ice Cream Shop will open for the day as a fund raiser for the rehabilitation of the Old Stone Schoolhouse in Lansing. The Ice Cream Shop was a mainstay of historic Lansing and Pat Haefner is allowing Main Street Lansing and the History Committee to open the shop for one day and serve the ice cream she used to serve. The Ice Cream Shop will serve cones and coffee from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

For more information about this weekend’s events, contact Main Street Lansing at director@lansingmatters or 563-538-9229.