Watermelon Contest Entries Due 6/25
Attention all watermelon growers, commercial producers to backyard gardeners. As melons ripen and harvest season gets here don’t forget to enter a few of your biggest and best in the Big Melon Contest at the Panhandle Watermelon Festival. The festival and the contest have been summer-time staples in the Central Panhandle for decades. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to showcase your skills as a grower and a shot at some serious prize money.
To make the contest fun for growers of all types of watermelons, a winner and first runner-up will be recognized for each variety of melon entered in contest*, with the heaviest melon in the class winning $50 and the first runner-up $25. In addition to the variety classes, there will be a $300 grand prize paid for the overall heaviest melon in the contest and $200 for the first runner-up.
There is no cost to enter a melon in the contest. However, melons entered in the contest are donated to the festival and will be sold via auction. Proceeds of the auction will go to help off-set the costs of next year’s festival. All contest melons will be on display during the festival, and their variety, weight, and grower will be announced during the auction.
Leave them on the vine as long as you can, every ounce counts, just don’t let the 6/25 delivery deadline slip by.
The 2025 Panhandle Watermelon Festival will be Friday June 26th and Saturday June 27th in Chipley, FL. The Friday night concert festivities will be held at Jim Trawick Park and Saturday’s events (including the melon auction) will be at the Washington County Ag Center. The auction will begin at 12 noon on Saturday.
Melons being entered in the contest will need to be delivered to the Washington County Ag Center prior to the festival. Melons will be received and weighed-in at the Ag Center Wednesday 6/24 between 8am and 4pm and Thursday 6/25 between 8am and 7pm central time. The Washington County Ag Center is located at 1424 Jackson Ave. Chipley, FL 32428.
If you have melons that you would like to enter in the contest, but are unable to deliver during the specified times, contact Mark Mauldin prior to 6/24 to make arrangements. Pick-up may be possible, to the extent practical, provided arrangements are made in advance.
If you have any questions and for specific contest rules, contact Mark Mauldin at the UF/IFAS Extension, Washington County Office (850-638-6180 or mdm83@ufl.edu).
*Note: Prizes will be paid for no more than 16 classes total. There must be a minimum of 2 entries of the same variety for the variety to have its own class. If there are more than 15 different varieties with enough entries to constitute a class, the 15 with the most entries will be used (ties will be broken by number of entrants). All melons not in a variety class will be grouped together with one winner and first runner up being selected from the group.
