Pumpkin Festival at Pensthorpe Natural Park

The Pumpkin Festival is the biggest autumn event in Pensthorpe's calendar, and it is built around a working nature park rather than a field opened for the season. That shapes how you buy a ticket: there are three options, and which one suits you depends on how much of the wider park you want.

Pumpkin Patch is the entry-level option and covers the patch itself. Pumpkin + Play, billed by the park as its best value, combines the festival with a full day at Pensthorpe, and Autumn at Pensthorpe sits between the two. Whichever you choose, the pumpkins are sold separately, in all shapes and sizes, and there is a carving area on site so children can carve the one they have just picked. The maize maze is given a Halloween rework for the season as the Curse of the Cornfield.

Two evening events sit alongside the daytime festival. The family after-dark night on Thursday 29 October brings a floodlit pumpkin patch, fire performers, floodlit outdoor play, fire pits for toasting marshmallows and street food trucks, with Hootz House indoor play bookable in separate slots. An adults only night follows on Friday 30 October. Both are pre-booked ticket only on the night, and during them the reserve and gardens are closed, so you have the WildRootz and pumpkin areas rather than the run of the park.

Worth knowing before you set off: no dogs are allowed on the reserve other than assistance dogs, and booking online gives the best prices across all the ticket types.