Don't Miss

50 Great Cumbrian Experiences - Pumpkin Picking After Dark

You are here: Home > Things to Do > 50 Great Cumbrian Experiences > Walby Farm Park

Pumpkin Picking After Dark at Walby Farm Park

Written by Amanda M

Location: Walby, near Carlisle
Venue: Walby Farm Park
Duration: Evening Out

To celebrate Cumbria Tourism’s 50th anniversary, the team are trying out 50 tourism experiences we haven’t tried before. Follow along as we continue our journey across the Lake District, Cumbria throughout the year! On this experience, Amanda M heads out to Walby Farm Park for the Pumpkin Picking After Dark experience.

Walby Farm Park is a working family farm located just outside of Carlisle, and it's also been known as a renowned and award-winning all-weather family attraction for many years. Walby is open year-round, with a robust events programme for all the family to enjoy - but in October, they host an adults-oriented set of events called "Pumpkin Picking After Dark." As someone who loves all things Halloween, I was so excited to be able to go this year!

We arrived for the start at 6:30pm, and were immediately greeted by seasonal decor throughout the venue, including animatronic scarecrows, witches brewing in a cauldron, and even a massive headless horseman! The Cowshed Café was open and in full-swing with delicious burgers and loaded chips, as well as cosy hot coffees and hot chocolates.

The Adventure Play Barn was open for the "big kids" to try out, including the 24-foot Demon Drop Slide - while we didn't go down ourselves, we saw lots of people make the drop throughout the night. We also ventured over to Milecastle62, a impressive indoor three-level Roman fort reconstruction, and got to climb around and explore ourselves.

In the main event marquee, there was a bar and a live performer singing country hits, and lots of people mingling about and dancing. We grabbed some local brews from Great Corby Brewhouse and settled in for a little while to listen to some tunes. After a while, we walked down the illuminated walkway towards the pumpkin patch, stopping to say hi to the animals along the way and posing for photos under the pumpkin lanterns.

The Pumpkin Patch was filled with people selecting their perfect pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, and we saw many people with wheelbarrows overflowing heading back to their cars. We wandered around for a while before heading back to the fireside for some s'mores to close out the evening. All in all, we had an amazing time out, and will definitely be coming back next year!