Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Gargantuan gourds were transformed into sailing squash for the 2025 West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta races in Oregon.
The annual event, which took place Sunday in Tualatin, featured hollowed-out pumpkins being paddled across a lake by people in elaborate costumes.
"It's kind of a ridiculous idea, which is why it's so popular," Heidi Marx, the event's coordinator, told The Washington Post. "How often can you say that you've watched people in costumes paddling thousand-pound pumpkins on a lake?"
Parker Johnson, who dressed as the Very Hungry Caterpillar, took first place in the costume contest.
"I was just chatting with my family in the car. Like, just brainstorming things to do. And my dad thought up the idea of a caterpillar eating its way up out of the pumpkin," he told KOIN-TV. "I thought that was really fun, so I went with it."
