People Are Flying To This US State To Watch A Giant Pencil Get Sharpened

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This 20-foot-tall No. 2 pencil was once a beloved 180-year-old oak tree. Now it's the star of a bizarrely wholesome ritual.
In the American state of Minnesota, a quiet residential neighbourhood transforms into a festival site once a year, but not for a concert or a parade. Instead, crowds gather to witness the sharpening of a giant pencil.
Yes, an actual 20-foot (6-metre) tall sculpture of a No. 2 pencil stands in the front yard of a Minneapolis home, and every June, it undergoes a ceremonial sharpening with a custom-built, oversized sharpener. The tradition has evolved into an annual community celebration, complete with music, costumes and attendees flying in from across the country, and even overseas.
'Some man is sharpening a pencil on his lawn and this is what happens? Yeah, I'm going to be part of it. How can you not? Life is too short," said Rachel Hyman, while speaking to the Associated Press. She flew in from Chicago dressed in a pencil costume after learning about the event from a friend.
From Fallen Tree to Cultural Icon
This unusually wholesome event began after a 2017 storm destroyed a beloved 180-year-old oak tree in the yard of John and Amy Higgins. Most would have mourned and moved on, but the couple saw an opportunity.
Actual footage of Minneapolis today. Stay awesome Minnesota!! #LotiPencil pic.twitter.com/JAmBpdwrVs — Rachel (@empathy13) June 8, 2025
'We didn't want to do the typical carved bear or something rustic," Amy Higgins said while speaking to AP. 'We wanted something people could instantly connect to. Everyone knows a pencil."
'Why a pencil? Everybody uses a pencil," she added. 'Everybody knows a pencil. You see it in school, you see it in people's work, or drawings, everything. So, it's just so accessible to everybody, I think, and can easily mean something, and everyone can make what they want of it."
They commissioned Minnesota wood sculptor Curtis Ingvoldstad to transform the massive log into a giant version of a classic Trusty brand No. 2 pencil.
'People interpret this however they want to. They should. They should come to this and find whatever they want out of it," Ingvoldstad told the news agency. 'Whatever you want to bring, you know, it's you at the end of the day. And it's a good place. It's good to have pieces that do that for people."
Giant Sharpener, Real Crowd
To keep the pencil looking sharp (literally), Ingvoldstad also crafted a giant sharpener weighing nearly 100 pounds. It is hoisted with scaffolding, rotated around the pencil a few times, and shaves several inches from the tip, just like a regular sharpener would.
'It's about four feet large and weighs a hundred pounds," John Higgins said. 'We hoist that up and turn it around a few times and the pencil gets sharpened."
Over the years, the event has attracted increasing attention. What began with a few hundred neighbours now attracts thousands. Last weekend's event featured alphorn players from Switzerland and free purple pencils distributed in tribute to Minneapolis music legend Prince, on what would have been his 67th birthday.
What Happens When It Becomes a Stub?
Naturally, each sharpening reduces the pencil's height. Depending on the year, anywhere from 3 to 10 inches (8 to 25 cm) are carved off. But the Higgins's are not worried about the pencil's longevity.
'We don't have answers to that, and we're fine with that," John Higgins said. 'But for today, for this moment, we're going to take what we have and make the most of it."
For him, it's more than a gimmick, it's a reminder of hope, community, and creativity.
'We tell a story about the dull tip, and we're going to get sharp," he said. 'There's a renewal. We can write a new love letter, a thank-you note. We can write a maths problem, a to-do list. And that chance for renewal, that promise, people really seem to buy into and understand."
Ingvoldstad agrees. 'Like any ritual, you've got to sacrifice something. So we're sacrificing part of the monumentality of the pencil, so that we can give that to the audience that comes, and say, 'This is our offering to you, and in goodwill to all the things that you've done this year.'"
Location :
Minneapolis, US
First Published:
June 11, 2025, 16:34 IST
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