PUMPKIN patches have always seemed like an unnecessary waste of time and money to me – how can you possibly make a whole day out of a 1-minute chore at the local Tesco?
Well… after a glorious five hours at Tulley’s Pumpkin Festival near Crawley in West Sussex, I am here to preach with the zeal of the newly converted.
My son and I drove over an hour to reach the countryside site, which grows 1.5 million pumpkins over 100 acres in readiness for their autumn extravaganza.
During the drive, my son (and I privately) questioned why on earth we were travelling so far and how it could possibly be worth it.
Within a minute or so of entering their beautifully presented attraction – think huge barrels of autumn-hued flowers, massive crates of pumpkins and specialist gourds in all colours, shapes and sizes – we realised how wrong we were.
Tulleys Farm is HUGE and an absolute masterclass in how to put on a huge event.
First of all… the pumpkin picking. Armed with a wheelbarrow, we set off to the main patch to pick our Halloween masterpiece.
There were insane numbers of them spread out over an enormous field and we spent a good hour searching for both the largest and smallest, which felt like proper old-fashioned family fun.
This year, they’ve also introduced Pumpkin Valley, a new attraction featuring huge sculptures of hot air balloons, guitars, hobbit houses and lakes made of pumpkins.
Pumpkin patches are probably 50 per cent about the pumpkins and 50 per cent an opportunity for a great photoshoot and Tulleys has engineered some fabulous family pics that I’ll be scrolling back to for years.
They also have a lovely illuminated woodland walk, with plenty more photoshoot backdrops, which was so cute we did it twice – even though it was still broad daylight, thanks to our decision to visit in late September.
What’s particularly nice about all of this is how calm it all is, despite the huge crowds it draws.
We did wait in a line for 30 minutes for a £12 chocolate milk in a hollowed-out pumpkin, at my son’s insistence, but other than that I don’t think we waited for longer than a minute for anything.
There is a ferris wheel and a carousel for those looking for an extra bit of fun, but other than that it is all about pumpkin fun.
Musicians roam the site, playing songs to the kids, and also man the stage at a barn where diners have their lunch from a number of food outlets.
The food and drink offering is good, with a standard bar serving beers, wine and cocktails, and companies sell everything from Greek food and pizzas to burgers and pasta, alongside a number of coffee shacks, although plenty of families brought their own picnics in too.
Our last stop was the marketplace area, with the aforementioned, many-coloured gourds.
We had a great time picking out miniature pumpkins – from deep red and dark green to downright ugly, warty ones, all of which are now adorning our living room.
I was slightly concerned about the costs racking up, as we piled 10 of them in the wheelbarrow alongside our giant pumpkin that is so large I can barely carry it 10 feet.
But one of the biggest surprises of all… when we got to the till, the whole lot (based on size) was just £17.
As we finally called it a day, wheeling our treasure to the car, my son proclaimed it was “more than worth the drive and he would have travelled twice as far,” then promptly asked if we could return for the Christmas festival that he’d spotted advertised on the way out.
Tickets to Tulleys Pumpkin Festival daytime tickets cost from £12.95 to £21.95 for adults and children.