From the ugliest and the heaviest to the biggest and best dressed, pumpkins were the vegetable of the day during the Roxburgh and Districts Lions Club's Pumpkin Festival at the Roxburgh racecourse yesterday.
Entrants in the best-dressed and ugliest pumpkin competitions used various accessories - from skewer spikes, nail varnish blood and bat wings to ribbons and coloured glitter - to create the most stylish and ugly pumpkins.
Committee member Wendy Black said she was pleased.
''I am pretty happy with the turnout, although there may be a bit less than last year,'' Mrs Black said.
''The number of [adult section] carved pumpkins was slightly down on the previous year's competition, but the children's entries were pretty good.''
As well as carved and accessorised vegetables, there was a big dig for the children, sack races, pumpkin-tossing, baking and fodderbeet competitions and dancing tractors from the West Otago Vintage Club in Tapanui.
Money raised will go to the Teviot Valley and surrounding area's emergency services.