Goffstown holds its annual Pumpkin Regatta
Saturday, Oct. 18, and Sunday, Oct. 19 mark Goffstown’s 24th Annual Pumpkin Regatta, so named because one of the highlights of the weekend is a race between competitors in giant hollowed-out pumpkins. But surrounding the actual race are pumpkin-themed and pumpkin-centered events from pumpkin carving to a parade of pumpkins to pumpkin painting to the dropping and smashing of giant pumpkins.
Tina Lawton is a member of Goffstown Main Street, which organizes the festival. She said it’s difficult to estimate how many people will attend the Regatta in a given year.
“We don’t have a gate that people go through,” she said, “so we can’t actually count them, but we think we’ll have at least 5,000 people over the course of the weekend, and maybe as many as 10,000. Every year there are families who travel here from out of the country. Last year we had somebody from Hungary.”
There are two food-centered events that have become traditions at the Pumpkin Regatta: a pumpkin cook-off, and a pie-eating contest.
This year’s cook-off will take place at Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church (5 N. Mast St.) on Saturday afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m. Home cooks and bakers will compete against each other in three categories: appetizers, main courses and desserts. There will also be a children’s division for competitors 12 and younger.
Lawton said the competition has become fierce over the years.
“Last year we had 16 individuals who entered,” she said. “We have a particular family who has participated for many years and they compete against one another, so that’s a fun sort of twist.”
Caroline Arend, the owner and head chef of Caroline’s Fine Food and the Pot Pie Bar (649 Mast Road, Goffstown, 404-6500, carolinesfood.com), will judge this year’s cook-off. She said she is interested to see what dishes make it to the competition, especially the baked goods.
“I look for a balance of sweet and savory,” Arend said, “and the taste of the pumpkin brings a little bit of both. It complements classic fall spices, like nutmeg and allspice.”
Surprisingly, Tina Lawton explained, Sunday’s pie-eating contest will not involve pumpkin pies. “We use chocolate cream pies,” she said. “We use a flavor that more people like. This year the Goffstown High School Student Council is organizing and will be emceeing that event and they are coordinating getting judges and some contestants. There will be three rounds of 10 in various different age categories and [the winners] will be whoever is the first to finish their pies in each of those rounds.”
For the past several years the pie-eating contest was emceed by Karen Henderson, owner of Goffstown’s hardware store. She said it is one of the most popular parts of the Regatta weekend.
“The pie eating contest has always been really a crowd favorite of people to watch,” she said. “People just will gather around and watch it, 10 or 20 people deep all around the table. We have three age groups and there’s usually a wait list of people who want to get in, who don’t get in on the first round. If we have extra spaces we’ll allow other people to do it. It’s hands-free and they can’t touch the pie with their hands and they can’t reposition it or anything like that; it’s just hands-free, and going at it with your face.”
She said rivalries have grown up around the pie-eating contest.
“We have a lot of people who come year after year and compete,” she said. “They’re like repeat winners and repeat performances.” There are champion pie-eaters, she said, who are very serious about retaining their titles.
Goffstown’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off and Regatta
When: Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Oct.19, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., culminating with the Giant Pumpkin Regatta in the river.
Where: downtown Goffstown
More: goffstownmainstreet.org/pumpkin-regatta
Featured photo: Pumpkin Regatta. Courtesy photo.
