Our entire festival is centered around our championship events: speed-eating, seed spitting, watermelon carving, and largest watermelon contests. The events start in the early afternoon on the basketball courts next to shelter 3 in Chandler Park. Everyone is welcome to this family friend event for all ages.
Below is the results for the Championship Results recorded by the U.S. Watermelon Speed-Eating and Seed-Spitting Championships, Inc. Official results are posted to this website shortly after the festival.
If you see a name misspelled or a record mislabeled, please leave a comment below.
For other years, please see the drop down under the heading above. We’ll be adding more shortly in the future.
Official World Records
Below is the current listing of the World Records for the
U.S. Watermelon Speed-Eating and Seed-Spitting Championships, Inc.
Official U.S. Watermelon Seed-Spitting Record Holders
| CATEGORY | NAME | CITY | ST | FT | IN | YEAR |
| Seniors (55+) | Russ Kolkav | Naperville | IL | 45 | 10 | 2006 |
| OLD RECORD | Tom Iverson | Madison | WI | 39 | 3 | 2002 |
| Men | Clark Hodgson | Pardeeville | WI | 61 | 3 | 1988 |
| Women | Jessica Laufenberg | Marquette | WI | 45 | 10 | 2016 |
| OLD RECORD | Jessica Laufenberg | Berlin | WI | 39 | 2 | 2009 |
| Mary Jo Wisniewski | Stoughton | WI | 39 | 0 | 1998 | |
| Junior Men | Jon Williams | Pardeeville | WI | 39 | 2 | 1993 |
| Junior Women | Erin Bortz | Pardeeville | WI | 33 | 9 | 1987 |
| Youth 0-5 | Gordon Kratz | WI | 13 | 7 | 2017 | |
| OLD RECORD | Lane Pease | Pardeeville | WI | 12 | 5 | 2015 |
| Robert Schaman | Columbus | WI | 8 | 3 | 2009 | |
| Youth 6-11 | May Igyarto | 27 | 10 | 2022 | ||
| OLD RECORD | Elaine Hepler | Pardeeville | WI | 27 | 1 | 2017 |
| Niko Safedis | West Allis | WI | 24 | 5 | 2013 | |
| Joseph Hodgson | Pardeeville | WI | 23 | 7 | 2009 | |
| Youth 12-16 | Tre Koepke | WI | 33 | 0 | 2011 | |
| OLD RECORD | Josh Swartz | Taylor | WI | 32 | 5 | 2009 |
| Mixed Doubles | Tim and Rebecca Swartz | Taylor | WI | 86 | 4 | 2017 |
| OLD RECORD | Michelle Panucci and Kent Berney | Madison | WI | 72 | 6 | 1986 |
| Seniors Mixed Doubles | Fran Uropkin and Steve Thompson | Pardeeville | WI | 40 | 10 | 2002 |
| Adult-Child | Craig Jones and Sam Jones | Pardeeville | WI | 61 | 4 | 1998 |
| Adult-Child 0-5 | Jessica & Gordon Kratz | 52 | 4 | 2015 | ||
| OLD RECORD | Todd & Lorelei Hepler | Pardeeville | WI | 29 | 2013 | |
| Adult-Child 6-11 | Meredith & Cliff Burton | Poynette | WI | 59 | 6 | 2016 |
| OLD RECORD | Todd & Lorelei Hepler | Pardeeville | WI | 55 | 6 | 2013 |
| Brontay Brazzle & Brandi Koepke | 47 | 2013 | ||||
| Adult-Child 12-16 | Aaron & Karina Staveness | 61 | 2013 | |||
| Four Person | Clark Hodgson, Jim Osborn, Jeff Warnke, Steve Swanson | Pardeeville | WI | 127 | 8 | 1985 |
Official U.S. Watermelon Speed-Eating Record Holders
| CATEGORY | NAME | CITY | ST | . . . | TIME | YEAR |
| Youth 0-5 | Ashley Rizer | Pardeeville | WI | 14.23 | 1994 | |
| Youth 6-11 | Robert Erickson | Pardeeville | WI | 06.31 | 1994 | |
| Youth 12-16 | Guy Berst | Portage | WI | 04.00 | 1985 | |
| Men’s | Jim Wisniewski | Madison | WI | 02.98 | 1995 | |
| Women’s | Shanda Kratz | Kingston | WI | 03.57 | 2010 | |
All times shown in seconds
Check back for updates and future news from the
U.S. Watermelon Speed-Eating and Seed-Spitting Championships, Inc.
The Pardeeville Watermelon Festival is an annual fall festival held the first Saturday after Labor Day in September, hosted in beautiful Chandler Park. It is held in Pardeeville, WI, USA, home of the U.S. Watermelon Speed-Eating and Seed-Spitting Championships, Inc (USWSESSC). For more information, please use the links above. This website will be changing more and more as we get closer to our event, so check back soon. For more immediate information, please contact us.