Great Pumpkin!: Sharon Man Wins Record 4th Topsfield Fair Giant Crown

TOPSFIELD, MA — The Great Pumpkin crown belongs to Steve Connolly for a record fourth time at this year's Topsfield Fair.

Connolly won the 40th annual All-New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off held this weekend with his winning gourd checking in at a massive 2,211 pounds.

Connolly won the title for the record fourth time — also earning top honors in 2000, 2010 and 2016.

The winning giant pumpkin is on display in a specially designed case in the Fruits & Vegetables Building through the run of the Fair on Oct. 14.

The current Topsfield Fair record was set by Jamie Graham of Tyngsboro in 2022 with a Giant Pumpkin weighing in at 2,480 pounds.

Colin Coates of East Hampstead, NH was also the winner of the 6th annual Hot Dog Eating Contest on Saturday with nine quarter-pound hot dogs (the equivalent of 22 standard hot dogs) downed in just seven minutes.

Coates was awarded a $206 check from contest sponsor Bnai Brith representing the 206th year of the fair.

Coates beat out 13 competitors in the contest.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)