Pumpkin Picking at Canalside Farm

Ten thousand pumpkins is a lot of choosing. Canalside grows them in all shapes, sizes and colours at Great Haywood, and the picking is wrapped inside an event rather than left to stand on its own, so a visit here fills a couple of hours rather than twenty minutes.

Admission covers the Ghost Buster Singers, Halloween themed crazy golf, a maize maze, a UV maze, a silent disco and Halloween themed games, with photo opportunities set up around the patch. Face painting, marshmallows to toast and Halloween drinks and treats are there too, but at an additional cost, so take something to pay with beyond the ticket.

There are two variations on the standard visit worth knowing about. Quiet Sessions run for families who would rather come without the noise; they do not include the Ghost Buster live music or the face painter. Late Night Pumpkin Picking on selected Fridays goes the other way, adding street food vendors and a replica of the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 to the field after dark.

Tickets start from £5.00 and the price varies with the date you choose, so the cheaper dates are worth hunting out if you are flexible. Booking is online with no booking fee, and there are 242 time slots spread across the 15 dates of the season, which leaves real room to find a time that suits. Children aged 2 and under do not need a ticket at all.

The farm is family run, and the shop and cafe are open alongside the event with hot food served into the afternoon, so lunch does not have to be a separate stop.