If there’s one thing better than a box combo with extra Cane’s Sauce, it’s watching spooky season history unfold right before your eyes.
This week, Celeb Secrets headed straight to the historic Salem Common in Massachusetts — the undisputed Halloween Capital of the World — where Raising Cane’s Owner and Founder Todd Graves pulled off the ultimate fall flex. Teaming up with legendary pumpkin grower Ron Wallace and a squad of master Food Network carvers, Graves transformed a jaw-dropping, 3,156-pound giant gourd into the official Guinness World Records titleholder for the World’s Heaviest Jack-O’-Lantern.
Even more magical? The record-setting spectacle took place as Salem marks its historic 400th anniversary and Raising Cane’s celebrates its milestone 30th year, delivering nostalgia, jaw-dropping artistry, and plenty of spooky vibes to over a million visitors flocking to the city this season.
View this post on Instagram
The canvas for this record-breaking feat wasn’t just any backyard pumpkin. Cultivated by champion grower Ron Wallace in Greene, Rhode Island, over 123 intense days, the gourd officially weighed in at 3,156 pounds on October 10 at Frerichs Farm. It’s also the first pumpkin (and the first fruit in recorded history) to ever cross the elusive 3,000-pound barrier.
“This pumpkin averaged over 60 pounds a day for two weeks,” Wallace shared during the onsite media conference, which Celeb Secrets attended. “It’s my 37th year growing giant pumpkins and my third Guinness World Record, but it took me 14 years to get back to my last record. It received about 55 to 60 gallons of water a day… you really have to stick with it from when you start the seed in the middle of April until harvest.”
Once the titan arrived at Salem Common, world-class carvers Eric Jones, Monique Hawk, and William Wilson —familiar faces to anyone obsessed with Food Network’s Halloween Wars and Outrageous Pumpkins — spent more than 32 grueling hours carving under the glowing October Hunter’s Moon.
“From a consistency standpoint, this was probably the most beautiful pumpkin we’ve ever carved,” Wilson explained,showing off pumpkin walls measuring close to two feet thick. “There were parts close to two feet thick… 16 to 18 inches consistently. You could carve this forever.”
The design blended signature Raising Cane’s flair — including hand-carved crinkle-cut fries sculpted from real potatoes — with eerie skeleton motifs, swooping bat caves, and a deep nod to local lore with a Salem witch stirring a glowing cauldron. Even the details stayed 100% natural, utilizing over a dozen fruits and veggies, including beets for eerie red eye accents, parsnips, and radishes. Best of all? The entire display will be donated post-Halloween to feed local farm pigs.
While the sheer scale of the pumpkin stopped tourists in their tracks, one of the most thoughtful details carved into the design was a series of glowing turnips.
“The original jack-o’-lanterns were turnips from Ireland, from the myth of Stingy Jack,” Graves explained to reporters.“He tricked the devil, and when he died, he couldn’t go to heaven or hell. The devil gave him a glowing ember to light his way, and Jack carved out a turnip to hold it. When the Irish immigrated to America, they discovered pumpkins, which were bigger, easier to carve, and held candles better. We wanted to honor where the jack-o’-lantern started, and show where it can go today.”
“The turnip idea was all Todd,” Wilson added. “Bringing that folklore and history into the carve was one of my absolute favorite parts.”
No trip to Salem is complete without major 90s/00s nostalgia, and Graves made sure millennial Disney Channel dreams came true by inviting Halloweentown royalty Kimberly J. Brown (Marnie Piper) and her husband Daniel Kountz (Kal from Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge) to celebrate the unveiling.
“I’m so thrilled to be here with Todd and Raising Cane’s. My husband, Daniel, and I are huge fans and it’s the perfect partnership to feel all the fall vibes while eating chicken fingers,” Brown beamed onsite. “This pumpkin is the most astounding pumpkin I’ve ever seen, and I’m so honored to be part of this occasion.”
Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo joined the stage to issue an official city proclamation designating the day (October 27) as Great Pumpkin Day in Salem, thanking Cane’s for bringing pure magic to the town’s 400th birthday bash. Guinness World Records adjudicator Michael Empric then stepped up with his tape and verification clipboard.
“The previous world record for heaviest jack-o’-lantern was set in 2003 in California at 2,749 pounds,” Empric announced to cheers across Salem Common. “Today, I am proud to say Todd Graves and Raising Cane’s 3,156-pound jack-o’-lantern is officially the new Guinness World Record titleholder!”
Funny enough, the record broken belonged to carver William Wilson himself: “The 2,749-pound record mentioned was actually held by me from 2023, so we just beat my own record!” Wilson laughed.
For Graves, who spent days touring Salem’s historic Witch House, Town Hall, and local spots like Turner’s Seafood alongside his daughter Sophia, the giant pumpkin tradition is personal. Graves has collected massive gourds for seven years — including headline-making displays at Nights of the Jack in Southern California and Hollywood & Highland — but hitting the official Guinness World Record in Salem represents the peak of an entrepreneurial dream.
When asked how cultivating a record-breaking pumpkin mirrors building Raising Cane’s from a college business plan that received the lowest grade in the class into an international powerhouse, Graves didn’t hesitate.
“It’s about having a dream and building the right team,” Graves said. “I wrote a business plan that got turned down by every bank. I had to commercial fish in Alaska and work as a boilermaker in oil refineries just to fund opening the first restaurant. But if you don’t dream big, you never get there.
“I don’t put these giant pumpkins in my front yard just for my neighborhood to see,” Graves added. “I want them where a million people and kids can see them and realize: someone dreamed of growing a 3,000-pound pumpkin and did it. You can dream big and do anything you set your mind to—whether that’s growing giant pumpkins, becoming an incredible artist, or cooking chicken fingers.”
Visitors exploring Salem can view the historic 3,156-pound jack-o’-lantern on display at Salem Common through Halloween weekend before it heads off to its eco-friendly second life. Additionally, Graves has sister giant-pumpkin installations at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles and Cane’s support offices in Dallas and Baton Rouge, alongside limited-edition glow-in-the-dark Halloween cups and their annual “Send a Boo” gift card drop in restaurants.
For more coverage on Raising Cane’s, click here.
