It’s the time of year that Instagram becomes flooded with pictures of people posing with wheelbarrows in American-style pumpkin patches.
Matching outfits are common – think sweatshirts adorned with ‘little pumpkin’ for tots – and dedicated photo spots provide the perfect Insta-worthy backdrop.
It’s a trend that has boomed in recent years with pick-your-own (‘PYO’ to those in the know) farms popping up across the country.
But not all pumpkin patches are created equally.
The owner of Europe’s biggest pumpkin festival has revealed how his family business became a celebrity hotspot – and his ambitions to become the biggest in the world.
Tulleys Farm in Crawley, West Sussex, has been in the Beare family for four generations.
While it’s now known for its world-famous Shocktober Fest scream park, which attracts a host of celebrities and influencers, it wasn’t until a trip to America that the Tulleys of today was born.
Owner and director Sam Beare tells the Daily Mail: ‘In the early 90s my father went to America and saw that Halloween was a huge thing in the US.
While it’s now known for its annual Shocktober Fest scream park, which attracts a host of celebrities and influencers, it wasn’t until a trip to America that the Tulleys of today was born
Tulleys Farm co-owner Sam Beare (L) is pictured with his grandmother and his father
The location is spot on for people travelling from the south-east, nestled between London and Brighton, in the heart of Sussex
‘He brought this idea back to the UK with a small haunted house and pumpkin festival.
‘If I’m being honest, it wasn’t very busy and we couldn’t give pumpkins away quick enough.
‘But ever since Harry Potter became popular and Halloween started to take off, it has transformed our business.
‘Now we’re in this really fortunate position where we’re approached by celebrities and influencers who want to come and visit, everyday.’
And it’s easy to see why.
Throughout the year, Tulleys offers a huge range of events including escape rooms, tulip picking and a Christmas lights festival.
But Halloween is when the farm truly comes into its own, with three distinct events: their pumpkin picking festival, Pumpkin Nights and Shocktober Fest.
It’s hard to overplay how many celebrities Tulleys attracts with YouTuber Zoe Sugg – aka Zoella – promoting the events every year for more than a decade, as well as decorating her porch with an enviable display of gifted pumpkins.
Molly Mae Hague and Tommy Fury had their first date outside of the Love Island villa at Tulleys
Influencers like Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes (pictured with their children) have been crucial to Tulleys’ growth
Love Island’s Molly Mae Hague and Tommy Fury had their first date at Shocktober Fest, according to Sam, and the list of celebrities who have visited Tulleys is endless.
Sam teased that there are some huge celebrities this year, but said he couldn’t reveal who they are. In the past, celebrities such as Declan Rice, Rupert Grint, KSI and Rag’n’Bone Man have passed through the gates.
Many of the celebrities who visit the farm come out of hours to avoid a fanfare, while others are there to be seen.
‘When it comes to building our business, it’s all about relationships and becoming part of the Tulleys family,’ Sam said.
His father is still very much involved in running the farm and Sam’s grandmother, who is in her 80s, still comes to finance board meetings.
‘We’re very much a family business,’ he said.
‘We’re here every single day, 24 hours, wearing dirty jeans and boots. It’s our passion and we love it.’
The location is spot on for people travelling from the southeast, nestled between London and Brighton, in the heart of Sussex.
But with more pumpkin patches popping up across the country each year, what makes Tulleys different from any other?
The list of celebrities who have visited Tulleys is endless
LEFT: Pete Wicks at Tulleys Shocktober Fest. RIGHT: Sam Thompson at Tulleys Shocktober Fest
Denise Van Outen at Tulleys Shocktober Fest
The main difference is that other PYO locations have adorned their farms with pumpkins from countries like Morocco to give the illusion that the festive treats are grown at the farm.
Morocco emerged as a leading pumpkin supplier to the UK in 2023, when sales soared to 11,000 tons, valued at £1million, with Spain and Portugal in first and second place, with exports of 51,000 tons and 14,000 tons, respectively.
While Morocco has long supplied Britain with its fruits and vegetables, trade between the two countries has surged post-Brexit, leading to a 40 per cent increase of Moroccan food exports to the United Kingdom between 2021 and 2022.
Retailers leaned on overseas pumpkin suppliers in recent times as growing conditions in the UK have declined significantly.
Farmer Richard Jones of Llynclys Hall Farm, near Oswestry, Shropshire, told the BBC that last year’s pumpkin harvest was the ‘worst in 25 years’.
He said at the time, ‘The weather has never really played ball with us. The sun has not shone enough, and pumpkins like a lot of sunshine and don’t really need a lot of water.
‘In 25 years of growing pumpkins, this has been the most challenging one by a long chalk.’
Elsewhere, customers have expressed their disappointment over the trend of picking foreign pumpkins.
With more than 1.5million pumpkins growing across 100 acres of West Sussex countryside, the farm employs a huge farm team to harvest the produce
Hannah Alothman caused a storm on X when she shared her suspicion that her local patch was reselling pumpkins purchased from Aldi.
‘Pumpkin picking is the biggest scam going. Discovered last year, it’s just a load of pumpkins from Aldi, chucked on a muddy field, for ten times the price. Never again.’
Another customer, Rob came to the same realisation on X, saying, ‘I did not realise the whole pumpkin-picking phenomenon was coming to a field where people have placed pumpkins to pick them up.
‘We are quite, quite mad. I mean you could do this with anything… “Come and pick your own sausage/bread bin/cat.”‘
But Tulleys grows all of its own pumpkins – around 1.5million of them – across 100 acres of West Sussex countryside.
‘We’re farmers and the festival element grew out of that,’ said Sam.
Its main annual events are the Pumpkin Festival and Shocktober Fest, crowned Europe’s largest scream park with various haunts, bars, and street food.
Scream parks may be a new concept to most Brits, but they have been an important part of Halloween for Americans for decades.
Their main annual events are the Pumpkin Festival and Shocktober Fest, Europe’s largest scream park with various haunts, bars, and street food
These parks utilise live actors, elaborate sets, atmospheric lighting and sound, and special effects to create immersive and intense horror experiences, though some also incorporate non-horror elements like fire and laser shows.
‘What makes Tulleys different is the festival atmosphere,’ Sam said.
‘We’ve tapped into a world of production and are doing things that haven’t been done before in the UK.
‘We’ve got more than 30 Instagram photo opportunities, live actors, roaming musicians and stilt walkers.
‘Our Pumpkin Nights is a huge new thing for us with fresh cocktails being made, live music, a 35-metre observation wheel and around 20 different street food options.
‘Guests feel like they’re in Pennsylvania, not Gatwick.’
Pumpkin Nights is a markedly not-scary Halloween event which runs alongside Shocktober Fest, which celebrates its 29th anniversary this year.
As for the future of Tulleys, Sam can only see it getting bigger.
Pumpkin Nights is a markedly not-scary Halloween event which runs alongside Shocktober Fest, which celebrates its 29th anniversary this year
Asked about Shocktober Fest’s impressive 54.5k followers on Instagram, Sam said: ‘I think one of the reasons we have grown so organically is because the celebrities and influencers love coming.
‘We’re the biggest pumpkin festival in Europe and are touching on being the biggest in the world.
‘We have such an engaged audience which I think is probably why some of these bigger brands are wanting to get involved with us.
‘We visit America three or four times a year for conferences and talks and have learned a huge amount from them. But now we’re the ones giving them tips!’
While Halloween was once a case of buying a pumpkin and some sweets from the supermarket for trick or treaters, for many, this no longer cuts it.
With farms like Tulleys giving America – where everything comes supersize – a run for its money, it seems Halloween is reaching a whole new level in the UK.
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