When does pumpkin picking start in the UK?
Most UK pumpkin patches open in the last week of September and close on 31 October. Demand peaks in the second and third weeks of October: UK searches for “pumpkin picking near me” run at roughly ten times their yearly average in October (Google search data, 2025 season).
The season in one picture
- Late September: early patches open, fields are fullest, queues are shortest. The sleeper pick.
- First half of October: everything is open. Weekdays are quiet; weekends build fast.
- Half term (late October): the crush. Big patches take timed bookings and the popular slots go days ahead.
- 31 October: season over, often literally overnight — many farms close the gate on Halloween.
When should you actually go?
If you can do a weekday morning in the first two weeks of October, do that: full fields, no queue for the trailer ride, and the café still has cake. If you’re limited to weekends, go the first weekend of October rather than half term — the pumpkins are the same, the car park isn’t.
Do you need to book?
Increasingly yes at the bigger patches, which moved to timed entry slots after the boom years. Smaller farms are still turn-up-and-pick. Every listing on our city pages links the venue’s own site or page — that’s always the source of truth for booking.
Find a patch near you
We keep checked, dated lists for twenty UK cities: start at the pumpkin picking hub and pick your city.
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