Pumpkin Picking at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

Pumpkinfest is the autumn season at this Wraxall zoo farm, and the part that draws families out from Bristol costs nothing at all. The pick your own patch is free to enter and no zoo day ticket is needed for it, so you can come purely for the pumpkins. It has been relocated next to the Farm Shop, and the venue describes it as bigger than before.

More than 30 varieties of pumpkin and gourd are grown for picking, which gives children a good deal more to choose between than the standard orange carver. Autumnal photo spots are set up around the patch and the Farm Shop, and the Farm Shop cafe serves seasonal food and drinks when everyone has had enough of the field.

If you add a zoo day ticket, Pumpkinfest brings a trail through the zoo called Poo at the Zoo Number 2, running for the whole season alongside the animals. There are indoor as well as outdoor play areas, which counts for a lot on a wet October Saturday. The zoo is a registered charity.

Two things are worth sorting before you set off. Zoo tickets have to be booked online at least two hours in advance, and booking five full days ahead takes 10% off the gate price, so a bit of forward planning is rewarded. Dogs are welcome in the Farm Shop but are not permitted in the zoo itself, so decide in advance whether yours is coming. Parking is free.