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    Train pumpkin

    PA Preferred® Pumpkin Palooza: Where Gourds Go Glam!

    Pennsylvania pumpkins are the best for eating or expressing your creativity! Paint or carve your Pennsylvania pumpkin and enter this year’s PA Preferred® pumpkin contest.

    Fall is here — and that means it’s pumpkin time, PA-style! The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture invites you to celebrate the season by supporting local farms and picking the perfect pumpkin for our Pumpkin Contest.

    Let your creativity shine this fall! Choose a locally grown Pennsylvania pumpkin and transform it into a one-of-a-kind work of art. From bold brushstrokes to clever carvings, we can’t wait to see your gourd-geous gourds and pumpkins.

    The contest will be split into two categories – painted pumpkins and carved pumpkins. Within each category will be three age divisions – Child (11 and under), Youth (12 – 17), Adult (18+). 
     

    Contest start date: September 26, 2025
    Contest end date: October 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
     

    Eligibility

    • Pumpkins must be purchased from a Pennsylvania farm;
    • Participants must be a resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
    • Participants must be someone other than an employee, immediate family member or person living in the same household as an employee of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture; and
    • Participants must give the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania permission to use names and photos of your pumpkin submission 
       

    PA Pumpkin Locator

    Not sure where to get your pumpkin from this fall? Check out these resources:

    To Enter

    When the contest is open, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and PA Preferred brand page will publish a post. Contestants should email a photo of their submission, with the subject “PA Pumpkin Palooza Entry”, to agcontests@pa.gov.

    Contestants must include the name of the Pennsylvania farm where they purchased their pumpkin. Not including this information will disqualify the entry. 

    Email entry should include:

    • Name, age, Pennsylvania county, email address, and phone number
    • A photo of decorated pumpkin and name of PA farm where pumpkin is from
       

    Winner Notification

    Winners will be notified via e-mail on October 24, 2025.
     

    Winner Announcement

    When all winners are confirmed, winners will be publicly announced on PDA social media channels and PA Preferred social media channels on October 31, 2025.

    Winners will have until November 5, 2025 to respond to the email with a mail address to receive their PA Preferred "swag" bag.
     

    Anything Else to Know?

    Yes!  PDA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend this contest.

    Your entry is considered written consent to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 2301 N. Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110, its successors, assigns, and licensees, and any agencies designated by the Department of Agriculture, to use the submitter’s name pictures for web site or promotional purposes including the use of said pictures on social media and other media, such as magazines and newspapers, wherever, whenever, and in whatever manner they shall desire, consistent with good taste which will not be derogatory, degrading or detrimental to the submitter in any way.  The submitter understands that they will not receive any compensation, neither now nor in the future, for the above.