At the Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Race, the Biggest Pumpkin Rarely Wins

The 36th Annual Pumpkin Race takes over Manhattan Beach Boulevard by the Pier on Sunday, October 18, and the city's own guidance quietly undercuts the most common instinct people bring to it. Among the tips the City of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Department posts from its "Pumpkin Race Pros," the second one reads: "A bigger or heavier Pumpkin Racer is not necessarily a faster Pumpkin Racer. Rarely does the biggest pumpkin win."

That line explains how the whole event works. The rules strip out most of the advantages money or engineering could buy, the course punishes small alignment mistakes, and the crashes add a dose of chance. So a family that picks up a kit at Becker's Bakery & Deli the week before has a fair shot against someone who has been perfecting a design since September.

The Rules Are Written to Cap the Engineering

The official rules are short, and nearly every one of them limits what a racer can be.

1. One pumpkin per racer.
2. Two independent axles that run through the body of the pumpkin, with the wheels attached to those axles.
3. A maximum wheel diameter of 12 inches. Larger wheels may run solo for time if it's safe and time allows, but they can't win a trophy.
4. A maximum axle length of 18 inches.
5. No chassis of any kind, whether built or prefabricated. The city's examples are a skateboard, a stroller and a Tonka Truck.
6. No bumpers or cage-like protective structures.
7. No tension rods, welded rods or anything else that stabilizes the axles. The axles may not connect to each other in any way.
8. Plastic zip ties are the only permitted axle support, and they're available at Pumpkin Kit Row while supplies last.

At the start line, nobody may push or "help" a racer. You set it in position and put your hands up. Every race is single elimination, and a racer wins when its wheels cross the finish line.

Put those rules together and there isn't much left to optimize. No frame to tune, no protective shell, no oversized wheels. What's left is a pumpkin with two rods through it, and the whole contest comes down to how well those two rods are set.

What Actually Makes a Pumpkin Fast

The city's tips get very specific once the rules have removed everything else.

"The best way to build a fast Pumpkin Racer is to make sure the axles are parallel so it will roll straight down the track. Many participants are eliminated because their Pumpkin Racer veers into the side wall before crossing the finish line."

The rest of the list reads like a pre-race checklist. Check that the axles are parallel before every race, not just once at home. Make sure every wheel spins freely. Give the racer enough ground clearance, because the course has bumps and dips that can catch a low pumpkin. Show up on time for your rounds and listen for announcements. Late racers may get to race for time just for fun, or face other late racers for a spot in a qualifier, but only if it doesn't hold up the races.

So a heavy pumpkin doesn't buy speed. It's more mass that has to roll straight on axles nobody is allowed to brace. A smaller pumpkin with carefully aligned axles and good clearance is the build the city's advice points toward.

If your build drifts, the event has two stations to fix it. The Pumpkin Pit Crew helps first-timers, and the city notes that most of them arrive without a finished racer. They help you build one from scratch. The Tinker Zone stocks wheels, axles, tools and decorations for last-minute adjustments.

Even a Perfect Build Can Lose

Alignment improves your odds, but it doesn't guarantee anything. In its recap of the 2025 race, MB News reported that "the winners are largely random," and that a very fast pumpkin can get knocked out by a rogue racer cutting diagonally across the course. The outlet added that collisions are common and that races often end with wheels and loose decorations scattered down the hill.

The same recap said the race drew thousands to the Pier. Kevin and Nico Harris took first place with a silver pumpkin, Anderson Hollier came second with a purple one, and Giovanni Bellow placed third with a giant spider pumpkin. Other themes on the course included Marvel superheroes, Disney princesses, the Dodgers, Beetlejuice and Labubus. The city's last tip fits that crowd: pick a theme and be creative, because the crowd favorites are often the most fun ones, and "if you can't win, then lose with style!"

The Mallet-O-Justice Enforces the Level Field

Any racer that breaks the rules is declared a Cheater Pumpkin, and the Head Race Official destroys it on the spot with a large wooden mallet called the Mallet-O-Justice. MB News reported that refs are trained to spot one classic kind of cheater, the watermelon disguised as a pumpkin, and it photographed one being found and smashed in 2025.

According to the city, several entrants routinely bring Cheater Pumpkins on purpose, fully expecting them to be smashed while the crowd watches. Before any pumpkin gets smashed, the head referee checks with a parent first. The city also says that, as far as it knows, the Head Race Official has never smashed a racer without the owner's permission.

Where the Kits Come From

The official kit costs $35 before race day and $40 on the day. Kits went on sale October 3 at the Hometown Fair. They're now sold at City Hall in the Parks and Recreation Department at 1400 Highland Avenue, while supplies last, and at a long list of downtown businesses:

• Bella Beach Kids, 225 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
• MBI Vintage, 208 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
• {pages} a bookstore, 904 Manhattan Avenue
• Shade Hotel, 1221 N. Valley Drive
• Tabula Rasa Essentials, 919 Manhattan Avenue
• Waterleaf Interiors, 1210 Morningside in Metlox Plaza
• Becker's Bakery & Deli, 1025 Manhattan Avenue
• Drift Beach Club, 451 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Suite B-108 in Metlox Plaza
• Culture Brewing Co, 327 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
• The Manhattan Beach Farmers Market, on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. only

You're also welcome to build your own racer to the rules, and the Pit Row Booth helps on race day with decorations and accessories for official kits.

How Sunday Runs

The festival itself is free. It opens at noon, and races start at 2 p.m. sharp. The city's posted schedule, which it calls approximate, starts with showcase races from 1:30 to 2 p.m. and qualifying from 2 to 5 p.m. Quarterfinals run from 5 to 5:30 p.m., the semifinals and finals start at 5:30, and the Championship Race is set for 5:45 p.m. The city lists festival hours as noon to 5 p.m., but on that same page the racing schedule continues after 5. Families who want to see the trophy race should plan to stay until about 6.

The optional $7 Turbo Pass, sold online since October 5, covers two pumpkin entries and gets you into a timed Turbo Pass line. It becomes invalid once your time slot passes. Without one you can still race, you just wait in the regular line.

The morning before the race belongs to the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, now in its 18th year. Check-in opens at 8 a.m., entertainment starts at 8:30, remarks begin at 9, and the walk starts at about 9:30 a.m. The route goes south from the Manhattan Beach Pier to the Hermosa Beach Pier and back, about 3.4 miles. Registration is $30 per walker in advance and $35 on event day. The listed beneficiaries are the Friendship Foundation and the education foundations of El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, the Peninsula, Redondo Beach and Torrance.

The 2026 Closures

The city's Pumpkin Race landing page still shows last year's closure dates. The current schedule is in the 2026 closure map, and closures start before the weekend does.

The city suggests the MB Wave Rider instead of driving. Book it in the Circuit app for $5 per person per ride, or $2.50 for riders 55 and older. On Sundays it runs from noon to 8 p.m. and covers the whole city plus the Metro K Line Douglas Station.

How the Race Got Here

Karl Rogers, Michael Aaker and John Holliday invented the Pumpkin Racer design and the race format on Halloween Eve in 1990, for guests at Karl's birthday party in East Manhattan Beach. In 2007 it won the National Recreation and Park Association's Special Event of the Year award and the California Park and Recreation Society's Award of Distinction. In 2008, more than 8,500 people came to its new location at the base of the Pier.

The Rest of the Halloween Calendar

The same city-run approach continues through the rest of October.

The 38th Annual Family Halloween Carnival runs Saturday, October 24, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Manhattan Heights Park, 1600 Manhattan Beach Boulevard. It's built for ages 2 to 14, with games, a Haunted House, a cupcake walk and a costume parade and contest that starts at 1 p.m. A $20 bracelet covers the listed activities from 1:30 to 5 p.m., extra activity tickets are $2, and the information booth takes cash or card.

The Halloween Trunk or Treat follows on Thursday, October 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Civic Center Upper Parking Lot. The entrance is off 15th Street between Valley Drive and Highland Avenue. The city and the Manhattan Beach Police Department host it, with Police, Fire and City vehicles decorated for kids to collect candy from, and tacos for sale. The 2025 listing ran until 8 p.m., so this year it ends an hour earlier.

On Halloween night, MB News has reported that the South End walk streets, from 4th to 11th Streets between Crest and Valley Drive, are a popular trick-or-treating area. That report dates to 2019, so treat it as a long-standing tradition rather than an organized 2026 event.

At Accardo Real Estate Associates, we keep track of the dates and details that shape a Manhattan Beach weekend, from Sunday's pier closures to the blocks that fill up on Halloween night. If you'd like that kind of street-by-street perspective on your own corner of town, request a complimentary market consultation.