Kelly

Pumpkin Picking at Spilman's Farm - Thirsk

AD} We were kindly invited along to Spilman's Farm Pumpkin Festival near Thirsk.

This is our second year visiting Spilman's Farm and we had a blast!

We arrived for 10am and were greeted by the lovely staff who talked us through how it all worked. We grabbed a wheel barrow (there are lots) and headed into the festival. (Read on to find a step by step guide on what to expect and for my top tips.)

What we did on our visit

We decided to have a walk around and do the activities first. This is what we enjoyed...

Corn Cannon, lots of fun you basically shoot a cob out of a pressured cannon. Elliot really enjoyed it, and right next to it was - The Sling Shot and you have to try and shoot the castle Honestly you could spend an hour just on these two. It's awesome!

Bale Mountain - If you love to climb then this is for you. The view is fab from the top and you might even spot a pumpkin or two. This was in a different location to the first year and was very popular with kids climbing it.

Giant Pipe Roll - We didn't do this as Elliot was determined he was too big for it (They looked big enough to me, chicken) Located in the tent right next to the spooky walk through.

Spooky Walk through - We loved this, I was expecting people to jump out but no one did so it was absolutley fine. You can check out my video over on Instagram or Tiktok if you really want to see what it is like before you go in.

Tractor ride - We left our wheel barrow to the side and jumped onto the tractor trailer for a ride around the pumpkin field which is a great way to see the Pumpkin fields from a different view, We used this opportunity to spot some pumpkins that we wanted to take home, the hard part was trying to remember where they were!

After the tractor ride we headed into the pumpkin field. we could have easily gone mad and filled a wheel barrow each. However we do have a few other patches to visit so I am limiting what we get. We do have a carving party at home closer to Halloween but I also make Pumpkin soup with the smaller ones. HERE is my delicious recipe. We really enjoyed wandering through the pumpkin field, there are loads to choose from in fact there are over 100k including traditional, white, yellow, blue and also squash and gourds.

We used the opportunity as home educators, to talk about the whole process from seed and Elliot spotted a few that had been damaged and gone rotten so it was great to see the life cycle in action. We then headed for the exit where you can pay for your pumpkins with either cash or use your £4 vouchers. We didn't wash the pumpkins as they were not too dirty but I think the wash area is a fantastic idea. We popped them in the car and then headed to the barn.

We decided to get one of the wood fired pizzas each and had a margarita and a meaty I don't think they were as nice as the first time we had them and the meaty pizza was literally swimming in grease but this was the only negative from the whole visit. We will just take a picnic next time.

All in all we had a fantastic morning and spent a good few hours here. If we had younger kids we could have easily spent longer. read on to find out more.

Good to know

Spilmans Farm is located near Thirsk, it was only just over an hour from Sunderland which isn't too bad. You can find over 100k pumpkins in different colours, shapes and varieties all grown on the farm.

Don’t miss out on all the new, exciting activities—activities are cheaper when booked in advance, and many time slots are filling up fast!

Choose from:

Four activities for just £6

Seven activities for only £8

You also receive a £4 pumpkin voucher

Remember, it’s one voucher per person.

Activities include:

Corn Cannon

Pumpkin Slingshot

Wizfords Academy of Witches and Wizards show, Halloween Fancy Dress Disco

Air rifles (separate charge)

Meet and greet

Spooky walk through

Barrel ride

Tractor ride

Lots of photo ops

Pumpkin Nights with live music and street food.

When is the festival on?

Every weekend and the open 25th-31st October

What to expect on your day

Arrive and find a car parking space, on busy days you will be directed to a space. Once you get out follow the signs for the PYO and grab a wheel barrow. They also have mini barrows for the little people. Then head to the kiosk and show them your barcode from your booking email. You will then be given your £4 credit voucher to use on activities or pumpkins. You can also purchase more if you need to. Please bare in mind the fairground rides and Rifle shooting are separate charges you do not get these included in your vouchers.

You can then decide what you want to do first and you can stay all day if you want to. You pay for pumpkins on the way out at the stand and you can purchase carving kits. Don't forget to take your phone or camera and take advantage of the photo opportunities.

Your questions answered

Parking - You will find hundreds of parking spaces so don't worry about it. They also have disabled parking.

Finding your way around - There's lots of signage, you wont get lost and most of the activities are in the same field.

Prices - Pumpkins start from £2 and go up depending on sizes

Dogs are not allowed so please do not go and then leave them in the car. Just leave them at home.

Card and cash accepted although contactless is preferred

Toilets on site near main entrance

Feet - Wear wellies or walking boots as it can get muddy

Washing station free to use to clean of any mud on your pumpkins and you also get a free pumpkin carrier although this is plastic and I would advise against this.

Food vans on site and in the barn you will find pizza, chips and other hot food options.

Pumpkins will last until mid/late October if you keep them in a cool area and dry. Check for any small holes and if you find one just cover with a bit of tape to stop any air getting to it. I would suggest carving no earlier than a week before Halloween otherwise they will go rotten if you carve them before that.