Pumpkin Palace at Fobbing Farm Shop

Halloween at this Essex farm shop is a set piece rather than a field. The Pumpkin Palace fills Gables Farm with the farm's famous singing pumpkins, a Halloween shop to browse and photo opportunities with the Fobbing Ghosts, Ghouls and Witches, alongside a pumpkin picking patch to adventure around.

A Ghostbusters Magic Show runs through the event, with performances aiming to start at twenty minutes past each hour, so it is worth timing your arrival if a show is the part your children care about.

Tickets are per child and adults come free without needing to book at all, which keeps the sums simple for a group of grandparents and cousins. Tickets are non-refundable and cannot be moved to another person or another date, so choose your day with some care.

Pumpkins are not included in the ticket price and are subject to availability, so treat the pumpkin as a separate purchase rather than something held back for you. The organisers say the event footprint is smaller this year because the car park has been expanded, though they have jam-packed in all the freaky favourites regardless. The farm shop is on the same site and keeps its own hours through the week, so there is somewhere to pick up lunch or something for home.