Farm celebrates Halloween with giant Jack Skellington pumpkin mosaic

‘Tis the season of the Pumpkin King!

Whether you're a trick-or-treat person or a Christmas fan, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas remains a seasonal classic. 

Jack Skellington has been given centre stage once again as the protagonist of a brand-new, record-breaking pumpkin record. 

The dead-licious largest cucurbita mosaic measured a whopping 193.35 m² (2,081 ft² 543 in²). That’s almost the size of a standard tennis court.

"Although we haven’t done an official count, our estimates put it at about 10,000 pumpkins!" say the founders of Sunnyfields Farm, where the record was broken. 

This Halloween-y mosaic largely surpassed the minimum requirement of 100 m².

The record was achieved by the Nelson Family (UK) at Sunnyfields Farm, an organic local farm in Southampton, on 18 October – just in time for spooky season. 

"It took a team of 10 people and five hours to build, throwing the pumpkins to each other – it is not a time to get distracted! If you do, you get a surprise," the family explained after the record.

The mosaic recreated the iconic scene from “Jack’s Lament,” one of the most famous and well-known songs from Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated musical. 

Although the entire team was involved in the decision making process, they also asked their fans on social media for suggestions and ideas. 

"This year," the record-breaking family said, "about 20% of the people suggested The Nightmare Before Christmas."

The top suggestion was actually the Lionesses, given their success in getting to the World Cup final, however we were finding it challenging to make a link to Halloween, despite it normally being our preference for something very topical. - Nelson family

In the end, the choice was perfectly in tune with the season, and the mosaic was made out of different kinds of pumpkins – all displaying different colours. 

"They are actually fruit and a mixture of pumpkins and squash. The orange and white are pumpkin, the green outline is Gem Rolet Squash, which is a staple food in South Africa and then the blue is Crown Prince squash which is fantastic to eat with a bright orange flesh," explained the Nelson family.

After inspecting the mosaic and making sure that it met the guidelines, official Guinness World Records Adjudicator Jack Brockbank presented the certificate to the whole Nelson Family (Ian and Louise, the founders, and their son, Tom) right in front of the spooky mosaic.

The record was a special way to celebrate autumn at Sunnyfields Farm, where pumpkins and seasonal traditions thrive. 

Originating from a passion project kickstarted by Ian and Louise in 1990, Sunnyfields Farm is a haven for nature-lovers, children and those who seek the perfect fall-themed Instagram pic. Today, many local families have created the tradition of visiting the farm every year.

The founding couple met during their volunteering days in Malawi. Their son, Tom has also been helping at the family’s farm since 2019. 

"We have been farming for over 30 years," they explained, "mainly organic vegetables!" 

As many people know, just farming can be a tough industry. For many years we have been testing different farm-linked seasonal experiences to get the community down on that farm. Some work, and some have definitely not. Like life, you need to test and learn as you go – for now, people like pumpkins!

Passionate about education and nature and advocating a healthy farm-to-table lifestyle, every year this family-run farm organizes plenty of activities for families to come and enjoy.

Visitors can wander through the pumpkin kingdom and purchase organic products while celebrating the cosiest season of all at Sunnyfields. 

“We feel Officially Amazing,” the Nelson family said as they reunited with their Jack for a celebratory picture in front of the record-breaking creation. 

"This is always a busy time of year for fruit and veg records at GWR. Indeed, just last week we had the privilege of recognizing a new heaviest pumpkin," commented Guinness World Records editor Adam Millward. 

"It can sometimes be easy to get wrapped up entirely in the biggest produce, but what Sunnyfields Farm has proven in their Halloween-themed gourd display is that when horticultural prowess is combined with a little creative flair, it's possible to reap some truly spook-tacular results."

The absolute protagonist of this giant cucurbita mosaic is the pumpkin – the picture-perfect Halloween prop.

The cucurbita, originally native to North and South America but today widely available in most of the world, is a staple of annual warm-season vining plants in the cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae). 

Other than pumpkins, the five domesticated and edible species of cucurbita include commonly cultivated vegetables such as squashes, zucchini, and ornamental gourds.

[Fun fact: in botanical terms, all of the five cultivated species of cucurbit are considered fruit. But no one would probably add squash or zucchini to a fruit salad!]

So grab your candies (and, if you feel fancy, your pumpkin spice lattes), pick your favourite scary movie and wear your Halloween costumes, because this is the season to be spooky.

We feel Officially Amazing. Although we didn’t build it for the recognition, it was fantastic to receive the accolade and it has meant a lot to the team who spend many hours building all of our seasonal displays.  - Nelson family

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