For the second year in a row, Punkin Chunkin has been cancelled due to insurance concerns.

DOVER, DEL. — For the second year in a row, Delaware’s annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin event has been canceled. Organizers said Thursday this year’s Punkin Chunkin, scheduled early next month at the Woodlands at Dover International Speedway, had to be canceled because of problems finding insurance coverage.

“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our board throughout an exhaustive, nationwide search, we have been unable to locate a willing insurer to adequately protect our host venue, our organization, our fans and our spectators,” organizers said in a statement posted Thursday morning on the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Facebook page.

“We cannot be more thankful for the efforts of our volunteers, the best efforts of our agents and the patience of our teams, our fans, our prospective hosts at Dover International Speedway, our vendors, and our sponsors through this difficult time.”Organizers said customers who bought tickets to attend this year’s Punkin Chunkin will have their credit card payments refunded in full within seven to 14 business days.

Last year’s Punkin Chunkin event, which was to be held at Dover International Speedway, was also canceled. Organizers said they did not believe they could meet “certain standards” for the 2014 event.

Punkin Chunkin, in which contestants launch pumpkins with a variety of homemade contraptions, began in Sussex County in 1986. The last year it was held was 2013 at the Wheatley Farm in Bridgeville, the event’s home for seven years. However, after a multi-million dollar lawsuit was filed by a Punkin Chunkin volunteer who was seriously injured in an ATV accident while working the 2011 event, the farm’s owner said the risk was too high to continue hosting the event.

Rick Dickerson, owner of Dickerson Farms in Laurel, Del., grows the pumpkins used at Punkin Chunkin. He told WBOC the roughly 5,000-7,000 pumpkins sold for the event account for roughly 5 percent of his pumpkin business.

“In the big scheme of things, it’s a small portion of our business,” Dickerson said. “It’s not going to shut us down but it hurts.”

As far as Punkin Chunkin’s future is concerned, organizers said, “We are actively seeking alternatives as we move forward.” They did not provide specifics.

Source: WBOC