More monster veg crowned at Malvern – but will David Beckham heed the challenge…

Autumn has arrived in the UK, which if you're a fan of the harvest season means one thing: it's time for the CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship.

The hotly anticipated competition has been staged at the Malvern Autumn Show in Worcestershire for more than a decade, and every year thousands of people descend on the hilly idyll to come and marvel at the prodigious produce and see if any of it has claimed a world record.

Visitors to the latest edition, held on 25-27 September, were not to be disappointed, because a total of SEVEN globe-smashing fruit and vegetables (grown by five gardeners) were verified over the weekend.

Among them was a beast of a beetroot (a record that had remained unbeaten since 2019), a super-long type of butternut squash known as a tromboncino and - perhaps most surprising to many - a plant widely considered an unwelcome garden weed.

Such an impressive crop of records is particularly impressive given the multiple extended heatwaves that the UK experienced over the summer. Speaking to the stoic gardeners, however, the extreme weather was generally taken in their stride. For them, it was simply a case of adapting to the new norm and - as always - doing what they can to help their plants reach their full potential.

All of the contenders entered into the contest were carefully examined by the Head Judge and GWR big veg expert Sebastian Suski, who checked that they conformed with the rules for each class before carrying out the vital measuring and weighing procedures.

Representatives from Guinness World Records also attended to inspect the successful specimens up close and present official certificates to their proud "parents".

The full roster of world records broken at the 2026 Malvern Autumn Show were:

• Heaviest beetroot: 26.02 kg (57 lb 5.9 oz), by Vincent Sjodin (UK)
• Heaviest sunflower head: 7.808 kg (17 lb 3.4 oz), by Vincent Sjodin
• Tallest cucumber plant: 7.598 m (24 ft 11 in), by Graham Barratt (UK)
• Heaviest luffa: 5.01 kg (11 lb), by Kevin Fortey (UK)
• Longest tromboncino squash: 1.486 m (4 ft 10.5 in), by Kevin Fortey
• Heaviest sweetcorn cob: 408 g (14.39 oz), by Peter Glazebrook (UK)
• Longest dandelion root: 1.127 m (3 ft 8.4 in), by Terry King (UK)

Kevin Fortey, aka "Mr Giant Veg", was one of two veteran growers this year (along with Vincent Sjodin) to set a brace of records. His family boast three generations of giant vegetable growers and, between them, they have now racked up 17 titles to date.

Fortey told GWR that he has the milestone of 20 world records in his sights, though he didn't rule out going beyond that.