Avon Valley Adventure & Wildlife Park is opening its doors for the spooky season this weekend, with the return of its Pumpkin Patch, and later its Pumpkin Patch Nights and FEAR Scream Park.
Approaching 10 years of the patch at the destination in Keynsham, this year’s Pumpkin Patch, which is dubbed ‘the South West’s biggest pumpkin extravaganza’, will play host to seasonal games like ‘Pumpkin Slingshot’, ‘Bottle Smash’, ‘Pumpkin Paintball’ and the much loved ‘Apple Cannon’. There will be on-site entertainers, with somewhat of a Lord and Lady Pumpkin to say hello to, as well as plenty of seasonal food and drink options – from doughnuts to loaded popcorn, and more.
Opening on Saturday, September 28, visitors are invited to pick their own pumpkins from the expansive pumpkin patches around the park. There will be multiple species to choose from, including traditional field pumpkins and ghost pumpkins in the patch, to a selection of weird and wonderful shaped squashes and gourds in the market area.
What’s more, there will be a shop selling a range of goodies, and plenty of Instagrammable areas where you can snap some artistic family photos. The Pumpkin Patch at Avon Valley received the title of Best Events at the 2023 Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards. The patch will be open from 10am until 5pm on selected dates, and ticket prices vary. You can select your ticket type and time slot here, where a discount for pre-booking online will be applied.
Pumpkin Patch Nights will then return from Friday, October 4, when the Pumpkin Patch will transform into an ‘atmospheric autumnal paradise’, where visitors can enjoy the ‘Spirit of Pumpkin’ fire show, upbeat acoustic live sets from local artists, hot chocolate, apple cider, and freshly mad doughnuts, too. Dogs are welcome to enjoy the autumnal fun of the Pumpkin Patch during the day and night, you simply need to select a ‘Dog Pass’ in the ticket section online.
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This year, to make things even more ‘Instagrammable’, there will be a 360 degree selfie camera that visitors can enjoy. Meanwhile, if you’re up for a scare, you can book an evening at Avon Valley’s award-winning Scream Park, Fear, which is situated in a separate area on-site, just a walk away from the pumpkin patches.
FEAR, which won the Best Event Entertainment title at the 2024 Thrill Nation Halloween Awards, will re-open on Friday, October 11 for 11 nights of scares. It boasts two zones, five multi-sensory and immersive scare attractions, fire and laser shows, street entertainment, and even a ‘bolt on’ scare experience known as ‘The Exorcism’.
This year’s event, which you can read more about in our handy guide here, also offers a ‘scaredy cat lanyard’ for people who want less scares, without having to book onto a FEARless event. FEARless at Avon Valley, is a tamed-down version for younger visitors and those who wish for no major scares, but still plenty of spooks. This is running from Saturday, October 26 – Thursday, October 31.
Doug Douglas, owner of Avon Valley Wildlife & Adventure Park, said: “No one does Halloween like us! If it’s frights you’re after, FEAR is a completely one-of-a-kind experience in the South West and we know it leaves our guests laughing with exhilaration as they emerge from our scare attractions.
“Our Pumpkin Patch is unrivalled in every way, with both our daytime and night-time offerings giving visitors beautiful autumn memories and becoming a yearly tradition!”