Giant pumpkins still took centre stage in Albany with growers and spectators coming together to keep the spirit of the 2026 Lower Kalgan Pumpkin Festival alive despite its official cancellation due to bad weather.

The anticipated heaviest pumpkin weigh-in went ahead as a scaled-back celebration on May 16, drawing strong community interest as competitors rolled in their oversized pumpkins for judging.

Across two days, 33 pumpkins were officially weighed with winners announced at the presentation evening, run by the Lower Kalgan Community Association.

In the open division, Kelsey Freemantle took out first place with her pumpkin weighing in at 408kg, followed by Amarah Freemantle at 406kg and Trevor Hannig came in third at 317kg.

In the junior division, the Tanayah Bailey took out the top pumpkin at 126.4kg, second place went to Lucy Lockhart weighing in at 82kg and in third place was Thea Chant at 64.8kg.

Amongst the competition awards, novelty prizes were given out — Shaye de Jager got a prize for registering the first pumpkin, Boys Toby and Ben MacDonald won a prize for the best post weigh-in picture, Kelsey Freementle won the best pumpkin display and Mr Hannig got awarded for the most attractive pumpkin transport.

The awards were presented by Lachy Gilmour from Irongate Futari Wagyu, alongside life member of the Lower Kalgan Community Association and Kalgan Fire Brigade, John Bocian who presented the prestigious Bocian Perpetual trophies.

For the junior awards, Lower Kalgan committee member Ken Carratti created a new junior trophy along with wood pumpkin medallions for the junior winners to keep as mementoes.

MC Dave Marshall kept the evening running smoothly and kept the crowd entertained between the prize ceremony and live entertainment acts.

The event featured live entertainment through Arts South’s Festival of Halls program with local band 3Fifths keeping the crowd entertained throughout the night.

The group performed a lively mix of classics spanning from the 1940’s through to today, featuring Derek Morgan on bass, Whitney Weaver on vocals and Chris Walker on guitar.

There was a range of activities and attraction during the evening including raffles, a colouring in competition, home made pumpkin soup and popular Wagyu beef burgers.

The evening was a successful community fundraiser with all proceeds donated to the Kalgan Bush Fire Brigade and the Lower Kalgan Community Association.

Despite the festival cancellation, the smaller community gathering demonstrated the resilience, generosity and strong community spirit that continue to make the event such a valued local tradition.