Pumpkin Picking at Barleylands Farm Park

Every child who comes to the Halloween Festival picks their own pumpkin from the paddock, and that pumpkin is included in the ticket rather than added on at the till. Once it is chosen, it goes to the Pumpkin Decorating Barn, where children can get to work on it before they leave.

The rest of the festival sits on top of a full day at the farm park. There is a child-friendly Halloween Maze, which the farm describes as spooky but not too scary, magic shows from Skittleman the Entertainer, and Halloween dance parties running through the programme. Birds of prey displays appear on selected days, and educational farm talks and demonstrations run across the day.

None of this is charged separately. Festival activities come with farm park admission, alongside the animal encounters and petting sessions, the tractor and trailer rides, and the indoor and outdoor play zones. The indoor space matters in late October, since a wet morning need not end the visit.

Book online rather than turning up and paying at the gate, because every ticket type is cheaper that way. It is worth knowing before you set off that carer tickets are reduced rather than free, and that evidence has to be shown at the kiosk on entry. Families with a baby should note that the free Babes in Arms ticket covers one baby aged six months or younger only.

The site is a large one. As well as the farm park, Barleylands has a craft village, football golf and an equestrian centre on the same land, so there is more on that road than the festival alone.