HALF MOON BAY, CALIF. --  Half Moon Bay biggest and best known event of the year is also known throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and California. Art & Pumpkin Festival is a celebration of pumpkins, music, community and art.

The event is held one weekend before Halloween, and usually includes a big pumpkin weigh off. In a recent contest a 1,535-pound Atlantic Giant pumpkin beat out  sixty heavyweight contenders from Washington, Oregon, Colorado  to win the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, the self-proclaimed World Pumpkin Capital. The Citrus Heights, Calif. grower was the first Californian to win the contest in 11 years.