Calling all watermelon growers, young and old, commercial growers to gardeners. Planting season is just around the corner. As you plan your plantings don’t forget about the Big Melon Contest and the Junior Jubilee Contest at the Panhandle Watermelon Festival. The festival and the contest have been summer-time staples in the Central Panhandle for decades. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to showcase your skills as a grower and a shot at some serious prize money.
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Big Melon Contest
To make the contest fun for growers of all types of watermelons, a winner and first runner-up will be recognized for each variety of melon entered in contest*, with the heaviest melon in the class winning $50 and the first runner-up $25. In addition to the variety classes, there will be a $300 grand prize paid for the overall heaviest melon in the contest and $200 for the first runner-up.
There is no cost to enter a melon in the contest. However, melons entered in the contest are donated to the festival and will be sold via auction. Proceeds of the auction will go to help off-set the costs of next year’s festival. All contest melons will be on display during the festival and their variety, weight, and grower will be announced during the auction.
The 2026 Panhandle Watermelon Festival will be Friday June 26th and Saturday June 27th in Chipley, Florida. The Friday night concert festivities will be held at Jim Trawick Park and Saturday’s events (including the melon auction) will be at the Washington County Ag Center. The auction will begin at 12 noon on Saturday.
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2025 Junior Jubilee Contest participants, Aubrey and Blake with their freshly picked contest entries. Photo credit: Mark Mauldin
The Junior Jubilee Contest is a melon growing competition open only to kids 18 and under. To participate in the Junior Jubilee Contest, kids must sign-up at the Extension Office between 2/17/26 and 3/6/26. Upon signing up, kids will receive seeds and growing guide. Through the Spring the kids will grow their own melons and then bring their two biggest back to enter the contest at the festival. All kids who bring a melon back for the contest will be recognized at the melon auction and prizes will be given for the 10 biggest melons, including a $200 grand prize.
There will be a “How to Grow Watermelons” class for kids & parents at the Ag Center, 5:30pm on February 17th to help kickoff the Junior Jubilee program. Attendance is not required to participate. For more information or to enter the Junior Jubilee Contest contact the Washington County UF/IFAS Extension Office at 850-638-6180.
Melons being entered in either contest will need to be delivered to the Washington County Ag Center prior to the festival. Melons will be received and weighed-in at the Ag Center Wednesday 6/24 between 8:00 AM and PM and Thursday 6/25 between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM central time. The Washington County Ag Center is located at 1424 Jackson Ave. Chipley, FL 32428.
If you have any questions and for specific contest rules, contact Mark Mauldin at the UF/IFAS Extension, Washington County Office (850-638-6180 or mdm83@ufl.edu).
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