Nothing says autumn like pumpkin picking - which is why we've gone and put together a list of some of the best pumpkin patches in and around Leeds and West Yorkshire.
Now October is finally upon us, it’s time to embrace those shades of burnt orange and brown as we enter into spooky season.
Before the nights start in the afternoon and it becomes too chilly outside, check out our favourite pumpkin patches to collect your Halloween pumpkins.
Bert’s Barrow
Bert’s Barrow has grown 30,000 pumpkins over the past few months and re-opened to the public yesterday. The dog-friendly farm is open to the public from 9 am until 4 pm every Thursday to Sunday The LS25 farm are urging pumpkin pickers not to leave their trip too late in the year.
“I don’t know what I’ll have left by half-term or how our car park will be”, Bert’s Barrow declared on their Facebook page.
No tickets are needed for this event. Bert’s Barrow is located in Hillam (LS25), which is around a twenty-five-minute drive from the city centre.
Temple Newsham
Temple Newsham are running a pumpkin carving workshop on Saturday 23 October to get all of the family into the Halloween spirit over half term. The event will run between 1 pm and 3 pm, but families are also invited to find the ghostly residents of Home Farm and Temple Newsam House throughout the week.
No tickets are needed for this event. Temple Newsham is on the outskirts of the city centre. The LS15 postcode is around a twenty-five-minute drive from Leeds city centre.
Horsforth's Pick Your Own
From Friday 8 October, Horforth’s pick you own pumpkin patch will be open to the general public. Located at Kemp’s farm, the event will run until Wednesday 27 October and host far more than just pumpkins.
Inside, visitors can ride in a tractor or trailer to the picking field, carve their pumpkins on-site or even choose to get into the spooky spirit by getting their faces painted.
Horforth’s Pick Your Own request that guests book their tickets online in advance, prices start from £1 for off-peak and do not include the price of a pumpkin. Kemp’s Farm is a mere thirty-minute car journey or train journey from Leeds city centre.
Image: Horforth's Pick Your Own
Redwood Farm
Head to Redwood Farm's opening weekend event either on Saturday 9 October or Sunday 10 October or join the half-term family day-trippers from Saturday 16 October until Halloween. Redwood Farm is also filming the progress of their pumpkins on Facebook, so if you can’t quite make it out this year, you can still get in the Halloween spirit from home.
There will be no bookings required and both cash and card are accepted on site. Redwood Farm is around thirty minutes from Leeds city centre, located near Wakefield.
Want some free pumpkins? Stockeld Park will be offering the opportunity to pick your own pumpkins from 23 October, but for every paid ticket, one child can choose their pumpkin free of charge. Just don’t leave it too late in the day as the last entry for the pumpkin picking is 4.30 pm each evening.
Pumpkin picking is included in the Halloween entry ticket, prices start from £15. Stockeld Park is located in Wetherby on the outskirts of the city centre. The LS22 postcode is around a forty-minute drive from the city centre.
Farmer Copleys
It’s ‘go big or go home’ at Farmer Copleys. The Pontefract-based farm has planted over 130,000 pumpkins and claims to have the ‘biggest pick your own pumpkin patch’ in the UK. Take your pick of the rainbow and find your perfect pumpkin, in twenty different varieties. From traditional orange to green, blue and even white pumpkins, each pumpkin is unique and perfect for carving later in the month.
The farm is open every weekend in October, tickets start from £4 during peak season. Farmer Copleys is around a forty-minute drive from Leeds city centre and can also be accessed from Streethouse train station (3 stops from Leeds).
Yorkshire Pumpkins
Yorkshire Pumpkins open their fields to pumpkin pickers on Saturday 16 October and Sunday 17 October for an early weekend pick before welcoming guests every day from Thursday 21 October until Halloween. They recommend bringing wellies, gloves (pumpkin plants are covered in spikes), a camera and a very strong bag to carry your pumpkin home in.
Tickets cost £1 to enter but will be taken off the price of your chosen pumpkins. Yorkshire Pumpkins is located in Lodge Farm, Cundall and is around a fifty-minute car journey from Leeds city centre. Due to the remote location, we would not recommend travelling by public transport.
Image: Yorkshire Pumpkins
Spilman’s Pumpkin Festival
Having planted over 80,000 pumpkins, Spilman’s Farm boasts to have ‘pumpkins for everyone’ across their ten-acre plot. Located on a family-fun-farm, visitors have the choice of picking orange and white pumpkins, gourds and squashes before heading to the carving barn. There are also fairground rides, pumpkin slingshots, corn cannon and indoor pick your own pumpkin tents to keep both children and grownups busy throughout the day.
The Spilman’s Pumpkin Festival will be open every weekend in October, just remember to pre book a ticket between 9 am and 3.30 pm to avoid disappointment. Spilman’s Farm is located north of York and takes around an hour to reach by car from Leeds city centre.
Want to go pumpkin pickers without the crowds? Birchfield Farm offers the ideal solution. The farm is usually known for its ice cream, but will be transforming the farm to host a pumpkin festival throughout October.
On Instagram, Birchfield told their followers:
“Our Pumpkin festival will start on 3 October 2021 and run every day till the 31st. We are so excited for this year and the pumpkins are looking amazing. We have grown lots more pumpkins and varieties from the small to the extra large, from white to warty!”
There are no tickets required for Birchfield Farm’s pumpkin festival, you simply need to arrive between 10 am and 4 pm to enter. The prices of individual pumpkins start at £1. Birchfield Farm is just north of Harrogate and is around a sixty-minute drive from Leeds city centre.
Image: Birchfield Farm
Balloon Tree Farm Shop and Café
For those searching for an understated pick your own patch, Balloon Tree Farm are open every day, waiting for prospective pumpkin pickers.
On their Instagram they state that:
“All you need to do is grab one of our wheelbarrows from the field entrance, pick any and all the pumpkins you would like, head back to the Berry Barn or Shop to pay for what you’ve picked, then return your barrow to the wheelbarrow park. It’s as easy as Pumpkin Pie!”
The Balloon Tree Farm Shop and Café is located on the outskirts of York and around a sixty-minute drive from Leeds city centre.
Feature Image: Birchfield Farm
Leeds
Rick Astley at First Direct Arena, Leeds – tickets, times, setlist and more for UK tour
Pop hitmaker Rick Astley is playing a few UK shows and is treating Leeds to a night of live music as part of The Reflection Tour.
Newton-le-Willows-born singer Rick Astley has achieved worldwide success, most notably with his work in the 80s alongside songwriting and production duo Stock-Aitken and Waterman.
Astley's album Whenever You Need Somebody has amassed 15 million sales across the globe and is a pivotal record that many would use to define 80s music.
On this LP is his huge hit 'Never Gonna Give You Up' which dropped back in 1987, with the track gaining more attention courtesy of social media trickery.
The worldwide recognition of this hit is all down to people online who deliberately link to the music video for this song, with the term being coined 'The Rickroll'.
Now, Rick Astley is returning to Leeds and ready to play out to over 13,500 people at one of Leeds' biggest indoor arenas First Direct Arena this April.
Gig guide | Rick Astley at First Direct Arena, Leeds - all you need to know
Rick Astley is bringing The Reflection Tour to Leeds this April / Wikimedia Commons via Raph_PH
Rick Astley UK tour dates
Fri 10 April - Glasgow, UK - OVO Hydro
Sat 11 April - Newcastle, UK - Utilita Arena
Mon 13 April - Belfast, UK - SSE Arena
Tue 14 April - Dublin, IE - 3Arena
Thu 16 April - Liverpool, UK - M&S Bank Arena
Fri 17 April - Manchester, UK - Co-op Live
Sat 18 April - Leeds, UK - First Direct Bank Arena
Mon 20 April - Bournemouth, UK - Bournemouth International Centre
Tue 21 April - Cardiff, UK - Utilita Arena
Wed 22 April - Nottingham, UK - Motorpoint Arena
Fri 24 April - Birmingham, UK - BP Pulse Live
Sat 25 April - London, UK - The O2
Fri 5 June - Scarborough, UK - Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Fri 19 June - Newport, UK - Isle of Wight Festival
Wed 24 June - Llangollen, UK - Llangollen Pavilion
Thu 25 June - Lincoln, UK - Lincoln Castle
Sat 27 June - Gloucester, UK - Westonbirt Arboretum
Fri 24 July - Ludlow, UK - Ludlow Castle
Sat 25 July - Sheffield, UK - Tramlines
Sat 30 August - Silverstone, UK - Carfest
Are there any tickets left for Rick Astley in Leeds?
No need to 'Cry For Help', there's plenty of tickets for Rick Astley's Leeds show at First Direct Arena and you can grab yours HERE.
It's been 'Driving Me Crazy' waiting for the right opportunity to do a little Rickrolling of my own - the actual tickets can be found HERE.
Rick Astley setlist for 2026 tour
The Reflection Tour sees Rick Astley play various shows and festivals across the UK / Wikimedia Commons via Raph_PH
This year will mark Rick Astley's first official headline tour since 2024 meaning a full setlist is yet to be confirmed.
Here is a setlist from 2024 when the 80s performer played a series of festival sets:
Never Gonna Stop
Together Forever
Beautiful Life
It Would Take a Strong Strong Man
Dippin My Feet
Start Me Up (The Rolling Stones cover)
She Wants to Dance With Me
Juice (Lizzo cover)
Forever and More
Hold Me in Your Arms
Seventeen Going Under (Sam Fender cover)
Cry For Help
Dance
Angels On My Side
Whenever You Need Somebody (O 'Chi Brown cover)
Good Times (Chic cover)
Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
Maria Love
Never Gonna Give You Up
Stage times for Rick Astley and support act for First Direct Arena, Leeds
Doors for Rick Astley's The Reflection Tour are set to open from 6.30pm with an official starting time of 7.30pm.
Support for this show comes in the form of another celebrated UK performer who achieved prominence the decade after Astley - Gabrielle.
This R&B-pop singer is recognised for her 1993 hit 'Dreams' and is known for soundtracking the 90s and noughties with multiple chart entries throughout the decades.
Located on Dyer Street next to Leeds City Bus Station and approx. 15min walk from first direct arena and is wheelchair friendly.
Support and help for any persons with a disability is available as the station is a registered ‘Safe place’ to come into and ask for assistance.
Nearest Bus Stops
Clay Pit Lane
Wade Lane/Lovell Park Road
Woodhouse Lane
Nearest Train Station
Leeds City Station on New Station Street is around a 15min walk from first direct arena and a major hub on the national, regional and local rail network providing connections to a wide variety of destinations.
Parking
There are over 7,500 car parking spaces within a 15-minute walk of the arena. The arena doesn’t have it’s own car park however there are lots of options nearby. To receive 5% off Q Park when attending a show at first direct arena click here
The nearest Car Park with EV charging is located on Albion Street click here.
None of the above car parks are operated by the arena so for questions, queries or comments we ask that you contact the companies directly.
Hiring Bikes in Leeds
If you’re looking to hire a bike in Leeds, here are some of the best options you can try:
Beryl bikes – you’ll find the ‘Leeds City Bikes’ from Beryl stationed throughout the city. These are all e-bikes, and they’re available to hire on a pay-as-you-go basis. It costs £1 to unlock the bikes, and then 16p per minute to use them. We’d say these are great for zipping around the city and getting from A to B.
Talio – for a wider selection of electric bikes to choose from, Talio based at Buslinthorpe Green is a great option. From this company, you can hire cruiser bikes, mountain bikes, and cargo bikes. Prices start from £20 per day for rental, but if you’re hiring for a month or longer you’ll get a good discount.
And about the rickrolling earlier... sorry not sorry.
Featured Images - Press shots via Peter Neill / Wikimedia Commons via Raph_PH
Leeds
Ireland’s famous fast food phenomenon, the spice bag, has landed in Leeds Kirkgate Market
Clementine Hall
You can now grab the ultimate hangover cure at our very own Kirkgate Market.
And it comes from none other than The Fisherman's Wife - a Leeds institution that has been serving up fantastic fish and chips for over 60 years.
But now, they're turning their attention to spice bags.
If you have no idea what we're talking about then allow us to fill you in. And we'd recommend pouring yourself an ice cold glass of water, because it's about to get real salty up in here.
The spice bag is an Irish delicacy that is often devoured after a few Guinness on the streets of Dublin, for example.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
It consists of shredded and battered chicken, chips, onions and peppers - all deep fried, loaded into a bag and tossed in lashings of salt and pepper seasoning.
Oh, and of course dipped or lathered in a sauce of your choosing. The classic being curry sauce, obviously.
It's been available in Leeds once before at a pop-up in Trinity Kitchen, but now The Fisherman's Wife is here to make them a permanent option for anyone with that salty craving.
You've got a couple of flavours to choose from too, including peri-peri, plain, salt & chilli and of course the classic salt & pepper.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
You can then add a drizzle of sriracha, curry sauce (obviously) or sticky honey if you're looking for that sweet and salty balance.
The best part? They're selling these for just £6.50.
So next time you've had a few too many the night before, get yourself to The Fisherman's Wife inside Leeds Kirkgate Market's food hall and get yourself a spice bag. You'll be cured in no time.
Sophie Smith -
30th September 2021 
