Less than 5 days before the 8th annual Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin Festival held at the Stoweflake in Stowe, VT on Sunday Sept. 25th. Still time to make a trebuchet or make 2 gallons of chili to compete in the Chili Cook Off. Last year we had 26 trebuchet teams and 4 chili competitors. Grand prize for best trebuchet design is $100, the winner of each division gets $50. Check out the rules for height and weight limitations.
For the Chili Cook Off, we give $100 for 1st, $50 for 2nd and $25 for 3rd; the crowd votes for the best chili. Did I mention we only had 4 chili competitors last year?! Come on down people, just mix up 2 gallons of your best chili and compete! We provide free admission, a tent, electricity and chairs.
Last year was only the 2nd year that a heavyweight trebuchet won the competition with 509 feet. Every other year the Grand Prize has been won by the Middleweight Open Division. This year should be very tight; the 3 time champion is still in England, two previous winners are competing and we expect more teams than ever. We’ve seen the designs evolve from the simple 1000 year old design, to King Arthur, to Floating Arm, to Merlin, to something I call “The Stick” which fires by basically falling over. I can’t wait to see what shows up this year. Nick Helms is building a torsion catapult to “throw for show” and inspire others to make unique catapults.
This year we are adding a Volleyball Challenge where teams of six can challenge the best doubles team in Vermont; Jon Halfcarhalftruck and Dalton Whitman. $5 per team to play, if you beat them you get your money back.
Here is the schedule of main events:
- 11am competitors set up
- 12:15: Welcome/introduction speech
- 12:30 First round of firing, chili cook off, volleyball challenge, face-painting, balloon animals
- 1:30 Second round
- 2:30 Third round
- 3:30 Prizes awarded
Hope to see you there!
Dave Jordan
Event Organizer
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Update:WCAX.com:
Morning show team tries pumpkin chuckin' --
FindandGoSeek:
Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival -- 5/5