Facilities and Services Available for Disabled Guests
Here is a quick overview of the facilities and services available for disabled guests at Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival, so that you can decide if this attraction is able to meet your access requirements. Please note: some of the services are listed below and a full explanation is available later on in the blog post. In order to quickly navigate through the post you can use the table of contents.
- Step free access: The majority of areas and attractions at Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival have step free access. Due to the nature of the event being in a field the majority of the ground was un even and a bumpy ride in a wheelchair. Some of the area was grass and the other areas being stones. There was a big walkway with flooring put down making it easier for wheelchairs however, there was none of them yellow ramp to get on to the flooring. I have included some images of the ground bellow so you can get an idea if it meats your access needs. In order to quickly identify if an attraction at Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival has step free access look for the level access symbol as seen below.
Before your visit
Before visiting Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival there are a few steps you must take in order to ensure you have the correct access available to you so you can enjoy your day.
Booking tickets
In order to get into Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival everyone must purchase an admissions ticket. Admissions tickets start from £6.70 for people 3+. Under 3 years are free and do not require a ticket. Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival uses a dynamic pricing system this means that pricing increases and decrease depending on the day. You can book admissions tickets by clicking here Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival admissions tickets.
When booking tickets you will need to select an arrival time slot. This is the time you will be able to enter however, you are able to stay till Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival closes.
Arrivals
In this section of the blog we detail what will happen when you arrive at Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival so you know what to expect and can get exploring as quickly as possible.
blue badge parking
There was a large space of the parking field right by the entrance dedicated to blue badge parking. There is no designated spaces or parking staff you just park on the grass. Parking was free of charge.
entering the Pumpkin Festival
The admissions area was a large wooded hut where the staff scanned our QR code on the tickets and on we went. There was plenty of staff around at the admissions area and it was nice and efficient. We visited in term time during the day and did not have to wait to get our tickets scaned.
Once through admissions you were greeted by plenty of pumpkins! This is also where you could hire a wheelbarrow for a refundable deposit of £10. The entrance area also had lots of helpful signage with timings of all the different shows at each stage as well as a pumpkin price list. I highly recommend taking a photo of these signs so you can check during your visit the times and locations of shows as well as knowing your options when it comes to prices of pumpkins.
Our Visit To Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival
Now we’re in the park and have sorted all of our access out it’s time to enjoy Farmer Copleys and find some pumpkins. In this section you will find a write up of our visit to Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival including all the accessibility information of course. So come and enjoy the day with us!
marquee Area
There is a massive blue and yellow straight marquee with a bar and mist importantly undercover seating. The marquee is a great base place for the with plenty of picnic benches and in our case a great escape from the rain. The marquee also gives a nice view undercover view of the main festival stage and sheep stage proving a quieter and less crowded viewing area. There was also plenty of the roaming actors in the marquee who you could get some great interactions and photos with as seen in the images below.
In terms of access, their is no floor on the marquee making it completely level with the grass. The guide ropes holding down the marquee were very large making them as visible as possible with my vision issue I was able to see them.
Sheep Show
The sheep show is an education and interactive show located on the sheep stage. The show was hosted by a farmer who was very knowable but also shared lots of jokes. The show consisted of 9 different types of sheets each doing a walk out to music and coming up onto the stage. The farmer gave a quick overview if each different type of sheep as all 9 of the sheep in the show were a different type. The farmer then Shield a sheep live on stage or as he put it got a sheep naked. The show finished with the sheep dancing to music and I can confirm all 9 of the sheep had their very own dance move.
The sheep show was around 30 minutes and I stayed fully engaged the full time so did most of the other people including toddlers around us. I didn’t have any idea what was happening at a number of points during the show however, there was plenty of music and audience participation that kept me interested and enjoying the show. During our visit the sheep show took place 3 times.
In terms of access, The seating for the show was all benches as seen in the images bellow. The benches did tip over pretty easily however, there was plenty of seating availability. There was no designated wheelchair spaces however, there was plenty of room for wheelchair users to sit at the end of the benches and have a good view. A number of concepts in the show were pretty hard to understand and there was a number of adult jokes which is worth baring in mind if you have a learning disability.
Fancy Dress and Character show
On the main festival stage located next to the sheep stage was the Fancy Dress and Character show. This show runs 3 times a day and is about 15 minutes long. The fancy dress and character show included lots of dancing with the characters including all the party dances like superman and the cha cha slide. There was prizes given for the best Halloween costumes as well as the best dancers. At the end of the show the witch came around and gave all of us a freddo caramel chocolate bar this was a really nice touch as everyone ended up with a little prize.
In terms of access, there was no seating area for this show as it wasn’t a show you watch due to it all being focused on audience participation and dancing. However, you were able to see the show from the picnic tables in the marquee. There was loads of music it was quite loud near the stage so I would recommend ear defenders.
Food and drink
At the pumpkin festival there was a large verity of different food outlets for both sweet treats and full meals. I took my pack lunch with me and there was plenty of picnic benches where you could eat your own food. I got a hot chocolate that came to £4 for a plain hot chocolate. The food options included the classic fair food like burgers, Greek raps, pizza and jacket potatoes. The food outlets were incredibly expensive if you are purchasing food then I recon the best option is the pizza van that you can see in the images below.
Pumpkin Picking
Of course the main event is the pumpkin patch where you get to pick your very own pumpkin. Farmer Copleys grows their own pumpkins and their were literally fields full of pumpkins to choose from all different types they even have some rare pumpkins. The pumpkin patch also has loads of photo opportunities.
In terms of access, the Pumpkin Picking is in a field that can be very muddy there was no official pathway however their was some wide enough gaps between the pumpkins to get a wheelchair through. It was nice and calm in the Pumpkin picking area with no music, loads of space and in our visit no crowds.
Fairground
I was very excited to go on some rides in the fairground and it didn’t disappoint. The is split into two sections with the vintage rides being in the middle of the pumpkin festival and the fairground located to the right of the pumpkin patch. The vintage ride selection was flying chairs, Ferris Wheel and carousel all costing £4 per person. I went on the flying chairs that were good fun as well as the Ferris Wheel where I got some great views of the pumpkin festival. The fairground area had a number of classic fair games like hook a pumpkin as well as fun houses and a selection of children rides. Much to my excitement their was a little rollercoaster which meant a new coaster cred for me! The rollercoaster was £4 we got that many laps I lost count. The fairground attractions raged from £3 to £5.
In terms of access, their was no real disabled access restriction on the rides like normal with a fun fair other then hight restrictions. In order to get onto all of the rides their was steps up to them as shown in the images below. I was able to keep my ear defenders on for all the rides and was even allowed to take photos on the Ferris Wheel.
Storytelling
Located towards the entrance of the pumpkin festival is the storytelling there where their was two different story sessions room on the broom and spooky the square pumpkin. We joined in with the spooky the square pumpkin story time that was started off by the scarecrow and then red by the witch. We were all taught some actions to use during the story like the different shapes of pumpkins and cheering. The storytelling area was beautifully decorated and although aged towards younger children definitely worth a look inside. There was multiple showings of each Storytime book throughout the day.
In terms of access, there was plenty of benches available to listen to the story time even though no designated wheelchair spaces there was plenty of room for wheelchair users to get a good view. There was a metal bar in order to get into the storytelling tent but all level after that.
Pop up farm shop
There was a great gift shop with loads of different autumn themed items Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival merchandise and farm shop items. The shop was located in a big where house building as seen in the images below. Outside the shop was loads or pre sorted pumpkins on the ground matts so a good choice to still get a pumpkin if you don’t want to pick your own or get muddy. The pop up farm show is also where you pay for any pumpkins you’ve picked. In order to determined what pumpkins are small, medium, large or jumbo they use hoop measures as seen in the images below the red is the medium pumpkin size and the blue is the small pumpkin size. You can also get a free sticker even if you don’t buy a pumpkin.
In the car park is the wheelbarrow return area. Don’t forget to return the wheelbarrow to get the £10 deposit back.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, I believe Farmer Copleys Pumpkin Festival is most definitely worth going to regardless of your age or ability and its not often I say that about an attraction. Even if you are not in to pumpkin picking then there is still so much entertoyment to enjoy. There was plenty to keep everyone engaged and hope to return next year. The only downside is no changing places. With options like the RevoLOO accessible changing van with hoists now starting be more widely used this is something I would like to see at next years event. Anyway that’s all from me today thank you for reading. Hope to see you on my next adventure, by for now.