Have a happy Halloween at Willows Activity Farm’s Pumpkin Festival

We sent Herts Ad cub reporter Anwen Adams down to the pumpkin patch to choose a suitably ghastly gourd for the spooky fun.

This year’s crop is the biggest ever, with around 4,400 pumpkins to choose from, and after being persuaded not to choose the biggest of the bunch (and therefore most time-consuming to hollow out!) Anwen made do with a pair of different sizes.

Then it was off to the Carving Cavern for some crafty action with Willows’ Miranda Dobson, who gave Anwen some help cutting the top off her pumpkins and doing that tricky thing with the face.

Scooping out the flesh proved a messy job, but one to be tackled with relish, and definitely something to get her hands stuck into!

Activity farm assistant Miranda Dobson helps Anwen pick a pumpkin to carve at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

There are plenty of tools to hand for carving your creation, and then all that remains to be done is to pop a tealight inside and sit back to admire your Jack O’Lantern in all its macabre magnificence.

If pumpkin carving isn’t to your taste, there are plenty of other activities to keep youngsters amused, including the Pumpkin Olympics, Sam-Tastic the Magician, and the usual attractions like Woolly Jumpers Indoor Play Barn, woodland adventures with Peter Rabbit and his friends, and sheep, goats and donkeys to meet in the farmyard.

Willows Pumpkin Festival takes place between October 21 and 29 - see www.willowsactivityfarm.com for more information.

Activity farm assistant Miranda Dobson helps Anwen pick a pumpkin to carve at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen picks a pumpkin to carve at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen picks a pumpkin to carve at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen picks a pumpkin to carve at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Pumpkins at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Pumpkins at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Activity farm assistant Miranda Dobson and Anwen head to the pumpkin carving shed at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Activity farm assistant Miranda Dobson helps Anwen carve a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen has a go at carving a pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)

Anwen with her Halloween pumpkin at Willows farm. Picture: Danny Loo (Image: Danny Loo Photography 2017)