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
Austfield Lane, Hillam, Leeds, LS25 5NQ
Image: 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 Friday, Saturday and Sunday but The LS25 farm are urging pumpkin pickers not to leave their trip too late in the year, so grab your pumpkins whilst you can this year.
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 Newsam will running a pumpkin carving workshop 1-3pm on Tuesday 31 October 2022 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 Newsam is on the outskirts of the city centre. The LS15 postcode is around a fifteen-minute drive from Leeds city centre.
There’s far more than just grabbing your pumpkin for spooky season here. There’s 18 different varieties to choose from so grab your favourite white, blue, orange, green, warty big or small one and take a tractor ride through the picking fields. If that’s not enough, there’s plenty of photo ops here, an onsite cafe and even face painters to bring your spookiest ideas to life.
Birchfield Ice Cream Farm will be open from Thursday 6 October 10 am - 4pm every day until Halloween, but if you can hold out until half term, you can join the Pumpkin Festival activities. Tickets are free to attend but if you wish to join the additional activities, visit the farm animals, activities, maize maze and carving barn there's a £5.95 charge per person.
It’s ‘go big or go home’ at Farmer Copleys. The Pontefract-based farm has planted over 200,000 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.
Redwood Farm
Tingley, Wakefield WF3 1EF
Image: Redwood Farm
Head to Redwood Farm's opening weekend event either on Saturday 14 and 21 October or Sunday 15 and 22 October or join the half-term family day-trippers from Saturday 26 October until Halloween.
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.
Yorkshire Pumpkins open their fields to pumpkin pickers on weekends from Saturday 7 October for an early weekend pick before welcoming guests every day from Thursday 26 October until Sunday 30 October 2022. 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 £1.50 each and prebooking is required, but the value of the tickets is taken off your 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.
Having planted over 125,000 pumpkins, Spilman’s Farm has pumpkins for everyone across their twenty-five-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 new ‘Last Pumpkin’ musical theatre show, which is included in the ticket price. Visitors will also be given a £5 voucher on arrival to spend on your pumpkins or Spilmans activities.
The Spilman’s Pumpkin Festival will be open every weekend in October, just remember to pre book a ticket to avoid disappointment. Spilman’s Farm is located north of York and takes around an hour to reach by car from Leeds city centre.
Everyone's favourite hip-hop and chilled rap artist is coming to Leeds for one night and one night only, make sure you don’t miss out.
That’s right, Loyle Carner is set to headline for ‘Above All Else,’ a brand-new event set up by local promoters ‘Futuresound,’ joined by the extremely talented Jordan Rakei, KOKOROKO, Kofi Stone and Bricknasty - what a treat.
As one of the UK’s most influential and inspiring young writers, producers and musicians, Loyle has recently been nominated for a bunch of awards in the past year, including the MOBO and BRIT awards, following the release of his most recent full album ‘Hopefully!’ which has become his highest-charting release to date.
He has also been in the media for being a fantastic role model for younger generations, using his platform to champion emotional vulnerability through his emotive lyrics. As well as utilising his platform to discuss mental health awareness, toxic masculinity, neurodiversity, and generational healing - what a good egg he is.
The gig is set to take place this Saturday 1 August, and will be an all-day outdoor celebration, with gates opening at 4pm and performances blending into the evening.
Gig guide | Loyle Carner at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds – all you need to know
Are there still tickets for Loyle Carner in Leeds?
Yes, there are currently still tickets available to see Loyle Carner but hurry.
General admission and accessible tickets are priced at £67.20, with premium admission standing priced at £100.20.
ou can see the latest availability and grab your tickets HERE.
Stage times
Gates Open: 4:00 PM
Bricknasty: 4:45 PM – 5:15 PM
Kofi Stone: 5:40 PM – 6:10 PM
Kokoroko: 6:40 PM – 7:25 PM
Jordan Rakei: 7:55 PM – 8:40 PM
Loyle Carner: 9:15 PM – 10:30 PM
Loyle Carner expected setlist
We are unsure on the exact set list for the concert but many are expecting a lot from Loyle’s most recent album ‘Hopefully!’ which centres around topics of family relations, with thought provoking and emotional lyrics, in true Loyle fashion.
Fans have also been eagerly awaiting to see whether Loyle will bring out Joe James to promote his newest collaboration on the single Ignorance Was Never Bliss.
What does a Premium ticket get you?
If you're thinking of making your night a little fancier, there's a Premium area in Kirkstall Abbey that includes all of this:
Premium Entrance (please note this opens at the same time as all gates)
Premium Hang Out Area located in the Historic Abbey’s Cloister with Private bar and toilets.
Premium food vendors.
Live at Kirkstall Abbey map
Getting to Kirkstall Abbey
You can pre-book parking for only £11, which will open at 3.30pm. However, it’s important to note that no overnight parking is allowed and vehicles left overnight will be towed - don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Entry to Kirkstall Abbey Car park is located next to Abbey House Museum on Abbey Walk in Kirkstall (LS5 3EJ).
Fans are urged to use public transport or travel on foot wherever possible.
Kirkstall Abbey has two local train stations nearby; Kirkstall Forge is located approximately 1.3 miles from Kirkstall Abbey and Headingley Station is approximately 0.7 miles.
There are several bus stops near Kirkstall Abbey too, for more information visit here.
Read more:
Featured image - Supplied
Guides
The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds – stage times, lineup, setlist and tickets
Daisy Jackson
It's finally time - indie heroes The Maccabees will be performing a huge headline gig at Kirkstall Abbey this week, with a lineup of fellow indie heavyweights.
The renowned quintet reunited for a comeback tour last year, and have spent this summer performing at some of the UK's finest open-air venues.
Now, it's Leeds' turn, as The Maccabees take to the Kirkstall Abbey stage on Friday 31 July, along with Maxïmo Park, Everything Everything, Mystery Jets, and Fiona Lee.
The Maccabees guitarist Felix White said at the time they announced their summer gigs: "The year we’ve just had was so special to all of us, and so unexpected, that it has put some momentum in everyone collectively …. and who wouldn’t want to do all that again?"
If you're going along to The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey, we've rounded up everything you need to know.
Are there still tickets for The Maccabees in Leeds?
At the time of writing, there are still tickets available to see The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey.
General admission tickets are priced at £64.45, with premium admission standing priced at £97.45.
You can see the latest availability and grab your tickets HERE.
Who else is on the lineup?
The Maccabees perform at Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds this week. Credit: Supplied
The main support act for The Maccabees in Leeds will be the brilliant Maxïmo Park, a Newcastle group who absolutely dominated the indie-alternative scene in the 2000s with their breakthrough debut album, A Certain Trigger.
But there's a lot more to this stacked lineup than that - The Maccabees have pulled together an almighty night of legendary indie bands to support them at Kirkstall Abbey.
Also performing will be Salford's finest art rock export, Everything Everything, who'll be performing their earworm hits like No Reptiles, Distant Past, and Cough Cough.
Before that, it will be Mystery Jets on the Kirkstall Abbey stage, who return with new album A Hole To See The Sky Through next month.
And opening the stage for the night is East Yorkshire lass Fiona Lee, who release EP Every Woman earlier this year.
Stage times for The Maccabees
Gates - 4pm
Fiona Lee - 4.45pm - 5.15pm
Mystery Jets - 5.45pm - 6.15pm
Everything Everything - 6.45pm - 7.30pm
Maxïmo Park - 8pm - 8.45pm
The Maccabees - 9.15pm - 10.30pm
Last entry will be 8.30pm.
The Maccabees expected setlist
The Maccabees have had a busy summer on the festival circuit, but based on their headline gig at The Eden Project earlier this month, this is likely to be their setlist:
Love You Better
Latchmere
Lego
Feel to Follow
Kamakura
Wall of Arms
First Love
Precious Time
Can You Give It
Spit It Out
Toothpaste Kisses
X-Ray
Marks to Prove It
Ballad Of So Long
Something Like Happiness
Encore:
Something Like Happiness
No Kind Words
Pelican
What does a Premium ticket get you?
If you're thinking of making your night a little fancier, there's a Premium area in Kirkstall Abbey that includes all of this:
Premium Entrance (please note this opens at the same time as all gates)
Premium Hang Out Area located in the Historic Abbey’s Cloister with Private bar and toilets.
Live at Kirkstall Abbey map
Getting to Kirkstall Abbey
You can pre-book parking, which will open at 3.30pm for The Maccabees. g.
Entry to Kirkstall Abbey Car park is located next to Abbey House Museum on Abbey Walk in Kirkstall (LS5 3EJ).
But fans are urged to use public transport or travel on foot wherever possible.
Kirkstall Abbey has two local train stations nearby; Kirkstall Forge is located approximately 1.3 miles from Kirkstall Abbey and Headingley Station is approximately 0.7 miles.
There are several bus stops near Kirkstall Abbey too, for more information visit here.
Sophie Smith -
1st October 2023 
