The Pumpkin Fest in downtown Rapid City attracted plenty of pumpkin lovers as well as some real heavyweights - pumpkins, that is.

Kids' activities included face painting, a jumping castle and a costume parade.

Eight-year-old Jillian Houk of Rapid City wore a pink punk pirate outfit that she bought in Colorado last year. "I love pink and black, and I thought it was perfect for me," she said.

There was plenty there for the adults, too: an Oktoberfest with ale samplings, an hour-long Elvis impersonator performance and an antique tractor parade.

A Pumpkin Festival Quilt Show, featuring 120 entries, added more autumn colors to downtown Friday and Saturday, on display in businesses' windows. Visitors could vote for their favorite at the Thimble Cottage. Festival-goers were also asked to vote for their favorite scarecrow by dropping money in buckets at their feet. Funds raised were donated to the Backpack Program, which provides food to local children in need.

But the real stars were the pumpkins.

They came in every size imaginable, from tiny pocket-size pumpkins to the not-so-lovely gargantuan pumpkins entered in the Phat Pumpkin Weigh-off.

"When you are going for weight, some can get pretty ugly," said Lee Perry of Vernal, Utah.

He brought two of the giant pumpkins to compete in the weigh off. He said he brought the little ones here and left three larger ones at home.

And transportation isn't necessarily the biggest expense to enter the contest. "They are very expensive to grow," he said. "It's not unusual for a good pumpkin seed to go for $50 to $100." He said some can cost as much as $1,000 a seed. "You have to have a good seed. If you were going to the Kentucky Derby, you wouldn't bring an old plow horse."

The top three pumpkins were left on display outside the Windsor Block Grocery Co. on Seventh Street. Lisa Evans of Rapid City took first place with her 723-pound pumpkin. Matt Winey, also of Rapid City, won second and third places with his 713-pound and 566-pound pumpkins. Also on display was a 91-3/4-inch gourd Winey grew.

As part of the festival, vendors from the Black Hills Farmers Market set up on Seventh Street for the day. Vendor Jamie Merkle of Spearfish said the big sellers for him on Saturday were pumpkins, squash and corn. He said the downtown location was a nice change.

Sharon Wilson of Rapid City - aka the Pumpkin Lady at Canyon Lake United Methodist Church - said the downtown event was great exposure for their pumpkin patch.

"I think this is neat and is good visibility for us. Nobody knows we are out there," she said, but their pumpkin sales downtown were good. A pumpkin purchase from the patch came with a free pumpkin train ride for the kids.

Becky and Matt Farley of Rapid City let their three sons, 5-year-old Brady and 3-year-old twins Michael and Andrew, pick out their own pumpkins to carve later that day. "There were a lot to choose from," Becky Farley said. But finding perfect pumpkins weren't a big concern for the boys. "They are more interested in digging out the pumpkin guts," their mom said.