Giant pumpkins, spooky shows and broomstick training with Halloween family fun at the farm

The National Forest Adventure Farm, in Postern Road, Burton, is home to seven acres of pumpkin picking fields as well as its Halloween family attraction Spook-tacular with spooky shows, potion mixing, spell casting and even broomstick flying.

As part of the event a giant pumpkin, which was donated by growers at North Stapenhill Allotments, will be on show. The ginormous pumpkin stretches a whopping 70 cm in diameter, more than double the average pumpkin size of 25 to 30 cm and weighs in at a staggering 112lbs – enough pumpkin to make over 100 Pumpkin Pies this Halloween season.

Tom Robinson who owns the National Forest Adventure Farm with his brother Ivor and has just returned from a trip to America to get inspiration for their Halloween pumpkin patch activities is now hoping others will share their giant growing stories.

Tom, who is confident the mighty pumpkin could be one of the largest in the area this year, said: “Pumpkin picking is a family favourite at this time of the year, and we are fortunate to have had a very successful growing season which means we have lots of lovely pumpkins ready for families looking to enjoy some outdoor fun together.

“We are very grateful to the team at North Stapenhill Allotments for donating the giant pumpkin for everyone to enjoy.

“Halloween is such a magical time of year, and we are really excited to unveil a host of spooky themed activities for children to enjoy from broomstick training to magic shows and pumpkin picking.”

Last month Tom visited several pumpkin visitor attractions in America to see how they made their patches unique and engaging with props and activities for families wanting to pick their pumpkin for the Halloween season.

He said: “For us Halloween is such a special time of year, and we are always keen to look at different ways to bring new experiences to families. The visit was interesting to see different ways we can make our own pumpkin patch more fun and appealing. We didn’t find any pumpkins quite as big as the one we will have at the farm this year but definitely got some good ideas for new trends and things we could look at introducing next year.”

The 40-acre family farm park, which welcomes over 15,000 visitors every October for their Halloween event, will launch this year’s Spook-tacular on the weekend of the 14th and 15th October and will then run the event on selected dates up to 3rd November.

Trainee Wizard Abra and Magical Student Ker Derba will join the Lord of Mayhem Count Spook-a-lot in entertaining children for their day of spells and potions.

On average big pumpkins, used to carve jack o’lanterns, weigh between 15 and 25 pounds with the typical diameter of the winter squash ranging from 25 to 30 centimetres. The heaviest pumpkin ever grown, according to the Guinness World Records, tipped the scales at 2,702lb 13.9oz and was grown by a farmer in Italy in 2021.

Entrance to the Halloween Spook-tacular also includes the usual farm favourites such as pedal Go-Karts, frisbee golf, Jurassic Canyon sand and fossil dig, tractor rides, an animal barn with goats, chickens, pigs, horses, cows, rabbits and guinea pigs, JCB Big Dig Zone and giant jumping pillows.

For more information on Halloween Spook-tacular and to book tickets visit: https://www.adventurefarm.co.uk/event/halloween/.