WHEN the biggest pumpkin patch in the UK opens on your doorstep, it'd be rude not to give it a go, otherwise you could be missing a trick to enjoy a seasonal treat.
With one million pumpkins over 300 acres, Cattows Farm in Leicestershire rebrands itself as Halloween Farm every October and attracts thousands of visitors from across the UK.
Just outside a sleepy village where the only other pop-up attraction
is a week-long summer scarecrow festival that raises thousands for charity, it's strange to be driving on quiet country lanes and discover an entire village, including a full-size funfair and multiple circus tents, has sprung up where normally there are fields as far as the eye can see.
Halloween Farm has become something of a ritual for lots of locals in the run-up to the spooky season so I thought it was high time to see what all the fuss is about.
The basic entrance ticket costs anywhere from £3 to £5, plus a £1 booking fee per person.
That covers entrance to Pumpkin Land, rides around the fields on the Pumpkin Express land train, a small playground and access to the funfair, where you pay per ride.
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Pumpkins are £1 each but limited to four per person to ensure there's enough for everyone.
Wheelbarrows can be hired for a £2 donation to charity.
The family-friendly fun starts from the moment you arrive.
Even the entrance tent is decorated to the max, with spooky spiders hanging down and pumpkins columns setting the scene.
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7Once inside, you have to walk through the funfair, with dastardly dodgems, a frightening Ferris wheel and a ghastly ghost train among other traditional attractions, to reach the pumpkin fields.
Cue lots of pestering about paying for rides. If you can make it past without forking out a small fortune, you're ready to take on the pumpkin patch.
With haybales to climb and lots of big orange pumpkins to pick fresh from the field, you can't really go wrong, although if your little one decides they're going to ride in the wheelbarrow, you'll need strong muscles to push them plus your pumpkins through the fields.
There's also lots of ornamental gourds grown elsewhere stacked up to add to your squash stash.
I took my four-year-old during unseasonably warm weather at the start of October and it was lovely to see all the little ones running round the pumpkins in their costumes, which would normally have to be covered by coats at this time of year.
And the basic ticket comes into its own if the weather is fine, as there's no mud to battle through and no rain to put little ones off the train and the playground.
There's also a small outdoor stage with lots of space for picnicking or grabbing some refreshments from the food vans while watching the kids chase after bubbles filled with smoke that my little one loved.
If the weather is not your friend or you're bringing older kids who aren't so into pumpkin-picking, train rides or playgrounds, you'd probably be best to pay for some of the indoor attractions that the site boasts, including a circus, cinema showing spooky classics,
inflatables and Trick or Treat Street, where costumed performers offer family-friendly fun.
My little one took one look at the huge skeletons by the door and the dark inside and decided he'd rather stay out in the sunshine.
You can pick and mix what you choose to do, but with discount bundles costing between £25 and £34 per person to cover all the indoor attractions as well as the Lost World, a wheatfield full of
animatronic dinosaurs and unicorns, you could easily spend a whole day here, with the farm open from 9am to 9pm.
Some of the attractions aimed at little ones close in the early evening, but as autumn is funfair season, you could bring your tweens and teens to enjoy the rides, loud music and bright lights in a safe and contained environment as the nights close in.
There's a special sensory-friendly day for people with extra needs.
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And if you hire a wheelbarrow, not only does the money go to charity, you also get a code to discount a return visit by 10 per cent, so it could easily be the best £2 you spend on the day if you're planning on visiting more than once.
If you're hankering after a hauntingly good Halloween treat, it's a funfest on the farm this October, with something for all the family.
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