10/12/2026
We are all so pleased with how wonderful of a weekend it was for the Nova Scotia Giant Pumpkin Festival & Regatta and what a great job the Shelburne Events Committee has done building up these events!
๐๐ A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE OUR 5TH ANNUAL NOVA SCOTIA GIANT PUMPKIN FESTIVAL & REGATTA SUCH AN AMAZING SUCCESS!!! ๐๐
WOW!!! WHAT A WEEKEND!!! ๐๐ฃโโ๏ธ
We're still recovering from all the excitement, but our hearts are FULL! โค๏ธ
It truly takes a COMMUNITY to pull off an event like this, and we have SO many incredible people, businesses, organizations and volunteers to thank!
From the months of planning and preparation to the very last pumpkin being cleaned up, there are countless people working behind the scenes to make this event happen.
So here goesโฆ grab a coffee, because this is a LONG one! โBut every single thank you is well deserved!
๐๐ OUR AMAZING PUMPKIN CREW!
First, a HUGE thank you to Lou Acker Machining and Repairs Inc โ Barb, Lou and forklift operator Steven! You are such a HUGE part of this event, and we honestly couldn't do it without you! Your experience, equipment, hard work and ability to keep everything running smoothly are invaluable. THANK YOU!
๐ To Spencer's Garden Centre, thank you for delivering pumpkins and gourds and for allowing us to use your straw throughout the event!
โ๏ธ To Dennis and Christine from Cape Island, thank you for sharing your experience and helping with our giant pumpkin weigh-in! We were so grateful to have you!
And to Darryl Hemeon and the Shelburne Exhibition, thank you for allowing us to use the scale. We appreciate it so much!
๐ฑ TO OUR INCREDIBLE PUMPKIN GROWERS!
Without YOU, there would be no giant pumpkins to weigh or paddle!
To all our local growers, THANK YOU for your dedication, enthusiasm and continued support of our Regatta. Growing these giants takes months of patience, care and hard work, and we appreciate every single one of you!
A special shoutout to Ted Siegel, who attended our pumpkin-growing information session last fall and went on to have an AMAZING first year growing! We LOVE seeing new growers get involved!
โค๏ธ To everyone who entered the Bob Sinden Memorial First-Time Grower Award, THANK YOU! Keeping Bob's memory alive through something he loved so much means a great deal to us. We hope to see even MORE first-time growers next year!
And to Will of Neily's Greenhouse and Gardens, thank you for your continued partnership and support over the past few years. We are so grateful for you and your incredible pumpkin-growing skills! ๐
๐ A BIG thank you to Dylan Hodgson of Hodgsons Towing & Recovery for travelling to the Valley to pick up some of the giant pumpkins for us! You're the BEST!
๐ OUR SAFETY CREWS & ON-THE-WATER HELPERS!
To the Shelburne Volunteer Fire Department, THANK YOU for always being there for our events! From operating rescue boats and placing buoys to helping with our kids' Try It Pumpkin Rowing, your support means so much to us!
๐ฎ To our local RCMP, thank you for assisting with safety planning leading up to the festival and for being present on foot throughout the event. We appreciate your support in helping keep everyone safe!
๐ To our incredible PIT CREW IN THE WATER, who spent HOURS helping children and adults in and out of giant pumpkins, keeping things moving and making sure everyone had a great experience โ WE SEE YOU AND APPRECIATE YOU!
We're guessing there are a few sore backs today! ๐โค๏ธ
A special shoutout to Warren MacLeod, CAO of the Municipality of Shelburne, for spending the day helping carve pumpkins and working in the water! You were right in the middle of the action, and we appreciate you so much!
And to Mike and Dana โ THANK YOU for doing this, that and EVERYTHING in between! You helped make the day run so much smoother, and we're so grateful!
๐ค๐ถ TO EVERYONE WHO KEPT THE ENTERTAINMENT GOING!
๐ Andy Blackmere, our official race starter and finisher โ we LOVE having you as part of our Regatta!
๐ค Darren Hudson, our amazing emcee this year โ thank you for bringing so much energy, enthusiasm and excitement to the waterfront!
๐ถ Cory Nickerson, thank you for doing such a fantastic job with the sound for Friday night's East of Eden performance and for keeping everything sounding great on Saturday. You're the BEST!
๐งโโ๏ธ To our Dancing Witches, thank you for adding some extra fun and excitement to Friday evening! What a great way to kick off the weekend!
๐งน OUR PUBLIC WORKS & CLEANUP CREWS!
To Lewis Smith, thank you for taking care of garbage pickup throughout the event!
To Darryl Locke and the Municipality of Shelburne Public Works team, thank you for all your hard work leading up to the festival and helping with cleanup afterward. You play a HUGE role in making these events happen!
And to Town of Shelburne Public Works, thank you for your help with the bleachers and pumpkin cleanup after the event!
These are the behind-the-scenes jobs that don't always get noticed, but we certainly appreciate them! โค๏ธ
๐๏ธ OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS & LOCAL BUSINESSES!
A BIG thank you to Shelburne's Museums by the Sea for adding the wonderful Tiny Turnip Festival to the weekend! We love collaborating with you and appreciate your continued support of our community events!
To Shelburne Physiotherapy, thank you for generously allowing the Guild Hall Market to use your parking lot on Saturday! It was such a big help!
๐งข A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO HOME PORT GIFTS!
We want to give a BIG shoutout to Home Port Boutique & Gifts for selling our official Nova Scotia Giant Pumpkin Festival & Regatta swag this year! ๐๐งก
We are so grateful to have a wonderful local business helping us share a little piece of our festival with residents and visitors! Thank you for your support, enthusiasm and for being part of this year's celebration!
โค๏ธ To our local businesses and residents, thank you for your patience, understanding and cooperation with the street closures and busy waterfront throughout the weekend. We know events of this size can cause some inconvenience, and we truly appreciate your support!
๐ A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO Sou'West Nova Transit!!!
You provided transportation for close to 450 people to and from the waterfront on Saturday! WOW!!! ๐
What an incredible service, helping visitors avoid parking challenges and making our festival more accessible!
And a special thank you to Stephanie of Albert's for allowing us to use your parking lot as a shuttle pickup and drop-off location! We appreciate it!
Thank you East Coast Signs & Graphics for the fantastic job creating our trophies for this year's Regatta! They looked AMAZING, and we were so excited to present them to our winners! We appreciate the time and care you put into making them so special!
A BIG thank you to Shelburne Electronics & Engraving for the wonderful job on our event signs, award plaques and the hats for our swag bags! Everything turned out GREAT! We also appreciate your generosity as one of our Bronze Level Sponsors. Thank you for supporting our events in so many ways!
๐๐ OUR FOOD VENDORS, MARKET VENDORS & ENTERTAINERS!
WOW โ you were BUSY!!! We know many of you barely had a moment to catch your breath! Thank you to ALL our food vendors for your hard work, delicious food and for being such a huge part of the festival experience!
๐๏ธ To the Shelburne Guild Hall Market, thank you for organizing such a fantastic and BUSY market! What a wonderful addition to the festival!
And a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make our children's activities and entertainment so much fun:
๐จ Beth and Amanda โ Face Painting
๐ Balloon Animals by Wendy
๐ซง Bubbles by the Clown Whistler
๐ฐ Yarmouth Big Bounce Rentals
๐ฏ Sandy Point Lighthouse and Community Centre โ Kids' Games
๐ช Scott's Timber Show โ What an AMAZING performance!
โค๏ธ Thank you Barbie Barrett and Mike Shand for creating beautiful Photo Booth displays this year for us ๐ซถ๐ป
Thank you for helping create so many smiles and wonderful memories for families! โค๏ธ
๐ธ OUR MEDIA FRIENDS!
A HUGE thank you to all the media who travelled to Shelburne to cover our event!
We appreciate you helping share our little community's BIG pumpkin tradition with audiences near and far!
We can't wait to see all the amazing photos, videos and stories you captured! ๐ฅ๐
๐ฃโโ๏ธ๐ TO OUR INCREDIBLE PUMPKIN PADDLERS!
You travelled from near and far, brought your creativity, costumes, enthusiasm and sense of adventure, and made this year's races SO MUCH FUN!
We especially appreciate your patience and understanding, knowing that right up until race time, we couldn't guarantee everyone would have a pumpkin to paddle!
From the hilarious costumes and decorated pumpkins to the close finishes and unexpected tumbles into the harbour, you certainly kept everyone entertained! ๐
We hope you had the time of your lives and checked something pretty unique off your bucket lists!
THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH GREAT SPORTS! โค๏ธ
๐พ OUR SCARECROW CONTEST PARTICIPANTS!
To all the businesses, organizations and residents who got creative and decorated our community with scarecrows โ THANK YOU!
You brought so much fun, laughter and fall spirit to Shelburne! We absolutely LOVED seeing all your creativity! ๐๐
๐๐งก OUR AMAZING SPONSORS!
We simply couldn't put on an event of this size without your generosity!
๐ PRESENTING SPONSOR
A HUGE thank you to The Huskilson Group - Realtors at Royal LePage Atlantic for coming on board as our Presenting Sponsor for the Regatta!
We are incredibly grateful for your support and SO excited that you've already committed to being part of next year's celebration! โค๏ธ
We also want to recognize the support of:
โญ Municipality of Shelburne
โญ Town of Shelburne
โญ Province of Nova Scotia
๐ GOLD SPONSORS
โญ AC Belliveau Veinotte Inc.
โญ TLC Pharmasave
โญ Woodworkers Home Hardware
โญ Sobeys Shelburne
โญ Wi******er Disposal Service
โญ The Property People
โญ Cooke Inc.
๐ฅ SILVER SPONSORS
โญ CBDC Shelburne
โญ Sarah Clark Creations
โญ Celia Melanson Law Office
โญ South Shore Bulletin Followers
โญ Harlow Construction
โญ Tyler Harris Excavating Ltd.
โญ Environmental Solutions
๐ฅ BRONZE SPONSORS
โญ Dirt to Dishes
โญ Boxing Rock Brewing Company
โญ JM Stritychuk & Associates Inc.
โญ Spencer's Garden Centre
โญ Shelburne Electronics & Engraving
โญ Easy Care Property Management
โญ Wasoqopa'q First Nation
โญ Kenny & Ross Ltd.
Please support the businesses and organizations that support our community events. Their generosity makes such a difference! โค๏ธ
โค๏ธ REMEMBERING JAMIE MATTHEWS โค๏ธ
There was someone very special missing from our celebration this weekend.
Jamie Matthews, one of our beloved founding Shelburne Events Committee members and, alongside his wife Ingrid, a familiar face at our events with Sou'West Mini Donut Madness, recently passed away.
Jamie had been part of our committee since it began in 2021, and his dedication, kindness and contributions helped make our events what they are today.
His presence was certainly missed this weekend, but he will always be part of our Shelburne Events family. โค๏ธ
Our thoughts continue to be with Ingrid and their family.
Thank you for everything, Jamie. You will never be forgotten. โค๏ธ๐
โค๏ธ AND FINALLYโฆ OUR INCREDIBLE SHELBURNE EVENTS COMMITTEE!
Robin, Val, Ashley, Councillor Angie Shand, Danyelle, Deputy Warden Heidi Wagner, Jessie, Mayor Stan Jacklin, Jeanette, Sue, Adam, Carolann, Candace and Debbieโฆ
YOU ARE AMAZING!!! โค๏ธ
The months of planning, countless meetings, early mornings, late nights, problem-solving, heavy lifting and everything in between do not go unnoticed.
Your passion, teamwork, dedication and love for this community are what make these events possible.
We are so incredibly proud of what we've built together, and we hope you are too!
A special shoutout as well to Councillor Sherry Thorburn Irvine and the two exchange students who jumped in to help with cleanup! Your willingness to lend a hand meant so much!
๐ AND TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO CAME OUT TO ENJOY THE FESTIVALโฆ THANK YOU!!!
Whether you travelled across the country, came from another province or walked down the street to join us, we hope you had an AMAZING time in Shelburne!
Seeing our waterfront filled with people, hearing the laughter, watching the races and seeing families enjoying themselves makes every bit of hard work worthwhile. โค๏ธ
If we've missed thanking someone, please know it certainly wasn't intentional. There are SO many people who help make this event happen, and we appreciate each and every one of you!
๐ FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS โ THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! ๐
We're incredibly proud of our community and what we can accomplish when we all work together! Who knows...maybe visiting Shelburne for this event will bring you back and you will some day make our community homeโค๏ธ
๐ WE CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT ALL AGAIN NEXT YEAR!
๐
SAVE THE DATE โ OCTOBER 9, 2027! ๐๐ฃโโ๏ธ
But firstโฆ after a little restโฆ ๐
๐โจ NEXT UP โ MIRACLE ON DOCK STREET! โจ๐
๐
DECEMBER 5, 2026
You won't want to miss another magical day in Shelburne! โค๏ธ
