Delaware’s Pumpkin Flinging Event Canceled Due to Insurance Issues

For the second year in a row, Delaware’s annual pumpkin flinging contest has been squashed.

Organizers of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin said Thursday that this year’s event, scheduled for next month at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, has been canceled because of problems finding insurance coverage.

The Punkin Chunkin, in which contestants launch pumpkins with a variety of homemade contraptions, began in Sussex County in 1986. Organizers started looking for another site last year after a Sussex County farmer said he would no longer make his property available. That decision came after a lawsuit was filed by a Punkin Chunkin volunteer who was seriously injured in an ATV accident while working the 2011 event.

Organizers say fans who purchased tickets will have their credit card payments refunded.

“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our Board throughout an exhaustive, nation-wide search, we have been unable to locate a willing insurer to adequately protect our host venue, our organization, our fans and our spectators,” the Punkin Chunkin organizers said.