Pumpkin Festival 2019

Join us to celebrate autumn’s bounty at our annual Pumpkin Festival. This fun-filled day will include many free activities for families, children and adults including pumpkin games, storytelling, talks and live music. Come along and share your homegrown harvest with us by entering into our competitions: The Grand Pumpkin & Squash Competition  The popular competition returns to the festival this year and will be judged by local resident, renowned gardener and advocate of the No-Dig method, Charles Dowding. Everyone is invited to bring along their homegrown pumpkins, squash or gourds to enter into the categories, ‘Heaviest Pumpkin’ or ’Best in Show’, each with a £500 cash prize. The winner of the ‘Misfit’ category will receive a goody bag.  Please register your entries ahead of the festival here.  The Baking Competition Don't worry if you're not green-fingered! Our Baking Competition is for all your pumpkin and squash-inspired dishes. From pies to pancakes, we encourage you to get creative. The competition will be judged by Roth Bar & Grill Executive Chef Steve Horrell and the winner will receive a lunch for four at The Bull Inn, Hardway and a goody bag. Competition entries should be on site by 11am. Our Community Pumpkin Display will be on view in the farmyard. Children and their families are welcome to contribute to the display by bringing along their own carved pumpkins or by taking part in our free Pumpkin Carving Workshops on Saturday 26 October, led by environmentalist artist and educator Stephen Whitehead. Roth Bar & Grill will be serving seasonal food and drink throughout the day, as they harvest their wide variety of squash from the Kitchen Garden. The menu will include Pumpkin soup, smashed pumpkin, seeds and goats curd as well as lamb asado, pickled red cabbage and yoghurt. Children's hot dogs will be available. Refreshments will be provided by Palette & Pasture, Xpressofix and The Bakemonger. Throughout the year we have been growing our very own pumpkins, alongside several different varieties of squash, on a patch in Durslade Walled Garden, located opposite the gallery. If you are growing your own, or perhaps picked up some of our free seeds earlier this year, share your pumpkins and patches with us using #HWPumpkinFestival. Entry to the festival is free, but please register your interest in advance. – We are pleased to be collaborating with LEAF Education (Linking Environment and Farming), a charity that educates young people about food, farming and sustainability in the countryside. We are also working with Hubbub Foundation as part of their #PumpkinRescue campaign that endeavours to save edible vegetables from being sent to landfill. Download a selection of recipes below: Steve Horrell's famous Pecan and Pumpkin Tart recipe. Perfect Pumpkin Soup Warming Lentil & Pumpkin Curry Simple Pumpkin PIe