The twelfth annual Pumpkinfest kicked off Saturday with the arrival and weigh-off of amateur-grown pumpkins at Pinkham’s Plantation in Damariscotta. Many young growers were among the first timers and veterans who spent the summer nurturing the large gourds, some of which weighed several hundred pounds.

Siblings James Sikorsky, 8, Matthew, 5, and Emily, 2, of Freeport all entered. Briar Bragdon of Windsor said he had been thinking about growing a pumpkin to enter the competition but had not tried to compete until this year “I always wanted to grow a giant one. It takes a lot of organic fertilizer,” Bragdon said.

“This is the first big one,” said Mechanic Falls' Jonathan Doyle, who helped daughter Cassandra, 9, bring her pumpkin to the weigh-off. He predicted her pumpkin would weigh in at about 275 pounds. First-year grower Jayden Brown, 11, of Nobleboro said his uncle Buddy helped him. “He was the wild man,” said Brown.

Pumpkinfest co-founder Tom Lishness has been a grower and regatta participant since he, Bill Clark and Buzzy Pinkham first carved out a pumpkin and raced it in the Damariscotta River in 2005. The formal Pumpkinfest took form in 2007 and has expanded ever since.

Lishness said primary schoolchildren will come to the nursery on Biscay Road to have hands-on experience in scooping out pumpkin seeds and preparing the pumpkins for the race on Monday, Oct. 8.

The pumpkins to be painted and carved at various storefronts in Newcastle and Damariscotta will be placed in town on Thursday, Oct. 4, he said.