The West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta is two events run on back-to-back days in two parts of town. On Saturday, October 17, growers bring giant pumpkins to Stickmen Brewing Company at 19475 SW 118th Ave. and put them on a scale. On Sunday, October 18, many of those same pumpkins go into Lake of the Commons as boats. Watching only Sunday means seeing the second half of a contest whose first half you missed. The two halves also judge the same pumpkin by opposite standards.
The weekend, in order
- Through Thursday, October 15. The City's bronze medallion hunt runs from September 24 to October 15, so it ends before the pumpkins arrive.
- Saturday, October 17, noon to 5 p.m. Pumpkins and Pints at Stickmen Brewing has free admission, wood-fired pizza, and the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers' Terminator Weigh-Off. Pumpkins, giant tomatoes and other oversized vegetables compete there for cash prizes.
- Sunday, October 18, 9 a.m. The Tualatin Rotary Club hosts the 5K Regatta Run/Walk, starting at Tualatin Community Park, 8513 SW Tualatin Rd.
- Sunday, October 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival at Lake of the Commons, 8325 SW Nyberg St., is free. Pumpkin races start at noon and 2 p.m.
Crowds have gathered in Tualatin to watch costumed paddlers race giant pumpkin boats since 2004. The pumpkins come from the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers, a club whose members spend months growing pumpkins, squash, tomatoes and watermelons before bringing them to Tualatin each October.
Saturday rewards the heaviest pumpkin
The Terminator Weigh-Off measures one thing: weight. Last year's results show how close the top finishers were. At the 2025 weigh-off, Jim Sherwood took first with a 1,627.5-pound pumpkin. Ron Barker was second at 1,417 pounds, and Tobias Cowger was third at 1,415. That left two pounds between second and third, and more than 200 pounds between second and first.
Those are last year's numbers. The club's 2026 results page reads "To Be Determined on October 17th, 2026," so this year's winners will be named at Stickmen on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday's results carry over to Sunday. The festival's Giant Pumpkin Selfie Station features the top three pumpkins from the Terminator Weigh-Off. If you photograph a pumpkin at the lake on Sunday, you can know its weight and grower, because those were settled at the brewery the day before.
Sunday rewards the lightest boat
At the lake, extra weight works against you. In its account of the 2025 regatta, the Associated Press reported that crews used forklifts and other heavy machinery to lift the pumpkins into the water. Then they cut an opening in each top and scooped out the inside with spoons, scrapers and their hands. The more pulp they removed, the lighter and faster the boat.
The 2025 race results support the same point. Gary Kristensen won a race in a 936-pound pumpkin, while Brad Bahns paddled a pumpkin AP reported at 1,376 pounds. Bahns told AP his pumpkin took six months to grow, and he described the paddle as "getting to culminate the season by putting it in the lake and paddling with our friends."
Kristensen summed up the appeal to AP:
"You've got an exciting activity that crowds love, you've got the costumes, cheering people, spectacle, pumpkins sinking, it has everything."
Who paddles at noon, and who paddles at 2
The race heats are not random. The noon and 2 p.m. heats put different groups on the water, and the split follows the path from Saturday to Sunday.
- Noon, Heat One: members of the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers. They paddle their own pumpkins or have a friend paddle for them.
- Noon, Heat Two: Sasquash-level sponsors and invited guests.
- 2 p.m., Heat Three: Tualatin Police, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, and paddlers from the online paddling quest.
- 2 p.m., Heats Four and Five: people selected through the online Pumpkin Paddling Quest.
The noon start is the closest Sunday gets to Saturday's scale. The people who grew the pumpkins race them, and some of those pumpkins likely crossed the weigh-off scale at Stickmen the day before. The 2 p.m. races are the neighborhood heats. The City lists 16 quest winners for 2026, including Tualatin residents Michael Meadows, Cassidy Kastelitz, Sam Sacco and Charles Wolfe.
There are three ways onto the water: sponsor at the Sasquash level, grow a pumpkin and enter through the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers, or be picked through the online quest. Paddlers must be at least 18, and each pumpkin carries one person. The City provides the pumpkin, the paddle and a required life jacket. Costumes are required and should be swim-safe.
The lake runs two schedules
The festival is split across the lake. The main stage is on the west side, and a second program runs on the east side along Nyberg Street. Both pause for the races.
| Time | Main stage, west side | Nyberg Street, east side |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 a.m. | Mayor Bubenik welcome | |
| 10:15 a.m. | Tualatin High School Marching Band pep rally | |
| 11:00 a.m. | Jugglemania with Rhys Thomas | The Pillage People, a cappella pirates |
| 11:30 a.m. | Rose City Dancing Witches | |
| 12:00 p.m. | Pumpkin races | Pumpkin races |
| 1:00 p.m. | Jugglemania with Rhys Thomas | The Pillage People |
| 1:30 p.m. | Rose City Dancing Witches | |
| 2:00 p.m. | Pumpkin races | Pumpkin races |
| 3:00 p.m. | Kids' costume contest |
Each side's acts repeat after the noon races, so you can see one side before noon and the other side between heats. Families entering the 3 p.m. costume contest should sign up early. Registration opens at 10 a.m. at the Information Tent at the end of SW Nyberg Street, with a limit of 25 kids in each age group: 3 and under, 4 to 5, 6 to 8, and 9 to 11.
Around the shoreline you'll find pumpkin bowling, pumpkin golf, where you hit floating golf balls into pumpkins on the lake, pumpkin tic tac toe and checkers, and pumpkin decorating sponsored by Tualatin Together. Professional carvers Tom Lindskog and Tim Pate will be working on site. The Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers will also have a booth, where growers explain how pumpkins reach more than 1,000 pounds and sell giant-vegetable seeds.
This year's poster is by Tualatin artist Brenna White. Titled "Tattoo Couture" with the line "Fortune Favors the Brave!", it brings back the jester and adds ravens, serpents and black cats. Posters, t-shirts and stickers are sold at the Pumpkin Regatta Store.
Getting to the lake without circling for parking
The crowd is big. Tualatin Life reported more than 21,000 people at the 2024 regatta. The City's 2026 plan:
- Shuttle, 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.: pickups at Kaiser Permanente, 19185 SW 90th Ave.; The Oregon Clinic, 19250 SW 90th Ave.; Bellagio's Pizza, 8835 SW Tualatin-Sherwood Rd.; and Hedges Green, 8639 SW Tualatin-Sherwood Rd. The last stop is near Floor & Decor, two blocks from the lake.
- Free bike valet, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.: at Nyberg Street and 84th.
- ADA parking: City Green Lot, 18715 SW Boones Ferry Rd.
The City's directions page doesn't list road closures or transit details, so check it again close to the weekend.
If you need food away from the festival lines, Baguette Bros is on the same street at 7028 SW Nyberg St. Brothers Austin and Ethan Chen opened the Vietnamese bakery on April 18. It serves sandwiches, baos, family-recipe breads and coffee, and lists its hours as 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
If you want to see the whole weekend, go to Stickmen between noon and 5 on Saturday to see which pumpkins come out on top. Then come back to Lake of the Commons at noon on Sunday to watch the growers race them.
Our team keeps track of these Tualatin weekends because they're part of what the community is like day to day, not just something listed on a city page. If the regatta has you thinking about a move to Tualatin or nearby, TK Real Estate Group can walk you through the neighborhoods around the Commons. Schedule a Free Consultation.
