Pumpkin Picking at Drumlanrig Castle

Halloween Happenings takes over the Drumlanrig estate for three weeks in October, and the way it is ticketed makes it unusual. You buy a ticket per child, and each one brings two adults in free. That single ticket also covers the adventure playground and the gardens, so the Halloween part of the day can be as long or as short as your children want it to be.

The trail itself comes with a booklet and a pencil to work through, and the estate promises new spooky additions for 2026. At the end of it is the pumpkin patch, where every child ticket includes one pumpkin to take home, along with a snack bag. Worth knowing before anyone gets their hopes up: extra pumpkins are not sold to take away, so it is one each and no more.

Sessions are split into a morning and an afternoon slot, but you are not tied to the clock. The estate says you do not need to arrive at the exact start time, and your ticket gives you access to the grounds for the rest of the day, which is what turns this from an hour on a trail into a proper day out.

Dogs can come along on the trail and into the pumpkin patch, on a lead and under control throughout, though the estate asks that you keep them away from the immediate surroundings of the adventure playground.

There is more on around the same dates if you want it. Children's Halloween craft workshops run between 13 and 20 October, and on 31 October the castle runs Halloween tours and the Drumlanrig After Dark illuminated trail, both booked separately from the daytime ticket.