Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival – Autumn Days Out

Last year I heard about Farmer Copleys for pumpkin picking, albeit two days before Halloween. We had fun and got some pumpkins ready for carving but the choice was limited. So this year I wanted to go earlier to see the pumpkin choice and all that Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival had to offer.

With pumpkins littered everywhere and the signs in the shape of witches, there was no doubt we were in the right place. The weather had been kind to us this year and it was nice and dry. So after the initial fun photo in a pumpkin shaped board and witches cauldron, we went in search of a wheel barrow.

 

 

Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival – Pumpkin Patch.

First thing you need is a wheel barrow, those pumpkins are heavy ! There’s a wheel barrow park on the way to the fields, you leave a £5 deposit and when you return it, that is refunded.  As you go around the marquees and pass the Corn Cob Cannon you are greeted with a sea of pumpkins. Pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colours, even warty ones had a certain charm about them.

 

 

So after wandering around the muliple fields looking for pumpkins, the fancy pumpkin field was my favourite, having fun, a laugh and getting a few comical photos with pumpkins, we finally settled on the ones we wanted. It was time to go back to near the marquees to pay.

There is a designated pumpkin washing area, which we found useful last year. This time we didn’t need to as it was dry and what we had picked had no muck on them.

 

The prices vary on size, ranging from £2 to £9 and they have carving kits for sale. There is also card facilities for paying for your pick, which if like us you get more than you planned to is useful option to have. After paying, you can take the pumpkins into the marquees to carve them.

Ours went to the car as we will carve them closer to Halloween.

With the Pumpkin Picking done, it was time to enjoy the other activities of the Pumpkin Festival.

As with any 6 year old, face painting was the next thing for us to do. So as Tony and Dave brought the pumpkins to the car and returned the wheelbarrow, we queued up. He was insistent that he wanted his whole face as a pumpkin and didn’t want any of the impressive ones on the display cards. They were happy to do what he wanted.  He left the tent a very happy boy.

 

Once J looked like a pumpkin, Dave went off to the food van to get some Farmer Copleys sausage rolls which we got last year and some chips. While he was doing that, Tony and J went to have a go on the Corn Cob Cannon.  You have targets to hit, although the J didn’t hit any they had fun.

 

There is a range of choices for food, like the Witches Kitchen, the Moo Cafe. We didn’t try them this year but the food smells from the witches kitchen was enticing. There was also Toffee/Chocolate Apples and candy floss stalls.

After finishing the sausage rolls which didn’t disappoint Dave’s memory of them last year. (Really worth trying! ) We went to another stall so J  could paint a pot. He chose a pumpkin tealight holder, which he painted and applied glitter in the painting tent. When finished, they are left there to dry.

The Farm Shop

While we waited for the tealight holder to dry we took a stroll down to the farm shop.  On the way down there were goats, chicken and ducks which really caught Ro’s attention.  When we got in the shop, it had some beautiful Halloween and Christmas displays and ornaments as you first walk in, which I had to have a look at. There was also a range of general gifts.

The food area has an assortment of items. Fruit, veg, meat, cheese, sweets, wines and general food cupboard goods and although didn’t get any meat of cheese, we did walk away from there with some gingerbread biscuits for the kids and a tin of chicken stock for the pumpkin soup.

On the way home we talked about going to visit the farm shop again, maybe for some of our Christmas food shop.

 

We went back to collect J’s painted pot, which had been bagged up for us, it was time to go home. Although there was lots of activities we didn’t have a chance to do this time, we had a great time. You can go on tractor rides, little tea cup rides, there is a story tellers tent, a fancy dress parade and other activities you can do.  We will be definitely going back next year.

 

Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival will be running on the 15th Oct and the 21st – 29th Oct 2017. With free entry and plenty of free car parking, it’s a great day out for the whole family.