{"id":182163,"date":"2026-03-30T11:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/?p=182163"},"modified":"2026-03-30T09:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T07:35:42","slug":"heidelberg-giant-pumpkin-festival-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/environment\/heidelberg-giant-pumpkin-festival-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Biggest Pumpkin South Africa Has Ever Seen Wins Gold in Heidelberg!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The winning pumpkin grew for 114 days and weighed a whopping 1221 kg!<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Western Cape, South Africa (30 March 2026)<\/em> \u2013 The fiercely contended Heidelberg Giant Pumpkin Festival took place on Saturday, and South Africa has a new record holder!<\/p>\n<p>When Piet Lotz from Riversdale rolled into the festival this year with two humongous pumpkins trailing behind, he was chasing gold. Last year, he took first place and claimed the Southern Hemisphere record for his mega gourd.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=314&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F968314772288409%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=560&amp;t=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This year, he held onto the title and made national history with the biggest pumpkin South Africa has ever seen, weighing a whopping 1221 kilograms! At 114 days old, Piet says it took good soil, good seed, and loads of love to grow his monster \u2018kin.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1966918073907382%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=267&amp;t=0\" width=\"267\" height=\"476\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time Lotz has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/environment\/piet-lotz-biggest-pumpkin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">claimed gold<\/a> for his big pumpkins. He has won the title many times over in years past, and now has his eyes set on beating the world record currently held by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cgj19v2vex8o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paton brothers i<\/a>n the UK, with their massive pumpkin, which weighed just 75 kg more than Lotz\u2019 national gold-taking gourd.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fthegiantpumpkinfestival%2Fposts%2Fpfbid08Kodmau5QU6yFbDVnAXndKN1kwagUmHcpPBiKX6naVoKrbgQdpugfrKkYpP4YmFel&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Heidelberg Giant Pumpkin Festival\u2019s second runner-up for 2026 is John Booysen, with an impressive growth of 816 kg and Pieter Conradie took third place, holding a solid weight of 793 kg.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u201cA big thank you as well to every person who entered and took part. We know it takes hard work, dedication and a lot of effort\u2026 and yes, those pumpkins definitely need regular chats!\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thegiantpumpkinfestival\/posts\/pfbid05pLVsdbGpL3zmtacgA1Wj1PDEL3hXmNJgTgm2H3KRxxuKPBFJSbR2GjR9e6GEGLsl?rdid=2DC1iHLWcJAQHqWz#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shared<\/a> the festival. \u201cBut without our stars \u2014 the pumpkins \u2014 the festival wouldn\u2019t have been the same. In our eyes, every participant and pumpkin grower is a winner!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<h6><em>Sources: Linked above.<\/em><\/h6>\n<h6><em>Don\u2019t ever miss the Good Things. Download the Good Things Guy App now on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/good-things-guy-news\/id1485106885\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.goodthingsguy.app\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n<h6><em>Do you have something to add to this story? Please share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/goodthingsguy\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/goodthingsguy\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0to keep up to date with good news as it happens, or share your good news with us by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/submit-a-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clicking here\u00a0<\/a>or click the link below to listen to the Good Things Guy Podcast with Brent Lindeque \u2013 South Africa\u2019s very own\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Things Guy<\/a>. He\u2019s on a mission to change what the world pays attention to, and he truly believes there\u2019s good news around us. In the Good Things Guy podcast, you\u2019ll meet these everyday heroes and hear their incredible stories:<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/iframe.iono.fm\/c\/6977?layout=modern\" width=\"100%\" height=\"535\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h6><em>Or catch an episode of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IUr-ia_kLNI&amp;list=PLOgUodplcFhbV4t9BmQlIsYu5zsBXejUg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Good Things with Brent Lindeque<\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kBBHj0Lb4jk&amp;list=PLOgUodplcFhYH57yXl_JRhLb3t2Gu43ws\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Weekly Top 5<\/a>\u00a0below. The videos here are always changing, updated with the latest episodes from these two shows. Both are part of Good Things TV, created to bring South Africans balance at a time when the news can feel overwhelmingly negative. Our goal is simple: to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in our country \u2013 and to leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Five Good News Stories That Deserve the Spotlight | Weekly Wrap Up\" width=\"810\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tEXwuQcFVqw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The winning pumpkin grew for 114 days and weighed a whopping 1221 kg! &nbsp; Western Cape, South Africa (30 March 2026) \u2013 The fiercely contended Heidelberg Giant Pumpkin Festival took&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":182172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[224],"tags":[200,86,59,2840,104,12,11,190,5960,12993,23,12994,12995,474,8,206,12996,500,127],"class_list":["post-182163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-awesomesa","tag-awesome","tag-change-one-thing","tag-checked","tag-do-good","tag-dont-miss","tag-featured","tag-good-news","tag-heidelberg","tag-heidelberg-giant-pumpkin-festival","tag-inspiration","tag-piet-lotz","tag-pumpkin","tag-record","tag-south-afri-can","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-record-holder","tag-western-cape","tag-wow"],"featured_image_urls":{"medium":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/giant-pumpkin-300x195.jpg","large":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/giant-pumpkin-1024x665.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/giant-pumpkin-150x150.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/giant-pumpkin-768x499.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/giant-pumpkin-1536x998.jpg"},"appp_media":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- 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