With everything from pumpkin carving and pumpkin picking, to pumpkin spiced lattes, and more, that time of year has officially arrived and we’re ready for it.
Folk tradition says pumpkins ward off Stingy Jack and other spirits, and they also look good by the window and scare away the nosey neighbours too, but instead of going to your local supermarket for a pumpkin this year, how about doing things the old way and harvesting the pumpkins yourself.
It’s a wholesome activity to do this half term, so wrap up warm and let the kids run around while you fill your wheelbarrow with fresh orange pumpkins.
Here’s just some of the best pumpkin patches near Manchester to head on down to.
Grab a wheelbarrow and browse the Hewitt family’s vast field of pumpkins.
The family have been growing pumpkins for 30 years, but decided to open their patch to the public last year, and for just £5, you get entrance and parking on the site – which then gets taken off the price of any pumpkins you catch.
The fun doesn’t stop there either, as stunning scenic walks around Dunham Massey Hall and Gardens can be polished off with wood fired pizza and Dunham Massey’s homemade cider made from their own apples.
So if you’re up for the challenge, then somewhere at the heart of the maize maze lies a kingdom of pumpkins ready for you to rescue, while a 100 scarecrows are also hiding somewhere in the maize, along with a Harry Potter area.
There’s no booking needed for this one, but themed fancy dress is encouraged.
Open on weekends, Kenyon Hall Farm has a 15,000 strong pumpkin patch.
If doing the dirty work isn’t your style, pre-picked pumpkins are available and you can explore the farm shop or watch your loved ones from the safety of the café.
Book a £2 ticket online for entry, and pumpkins can vary in price.
A great place to spend a day this half term, Lancaster Park & Animal Farm in Chadderton doesn’t just stop at pumpkin carving, as there’s also costume competitions, tales in a Spooky Haunted House, and a whole farm of animals.
Alternative activities that come with the farm include mini-quads and zip lines.
Book online where tickets range from £4-£8, including the pumpkins you take away and access to the activities.
Head on down to Cockfields Farm to pick your perfect pumpkin, create your monster in the Spooky Carving Cave, and tire out the kids with fancy dress and dance competitions, fairground rides, and hand-feeding the farm animals.
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Tickets range from £4.95 to £12.95 per person, depending on ages and how many pumpkins you take home.
It’s cheap and definitely cheerful, and after welcoming thousands of families for the first time last year, Libby’s Pumpkin Patch is back and knows how to host a pumpkin party.
Tickets cost £2.50 per car, and pumpkins range from £1 for ‘minis’ up to £20 for ‘monsters’.
Affordable fun is just what we want and Roby Mill is completely free entry and parking.
Open every day from now until Halloween, pumpkins are everywhere, with prices starting from £2, so you can either dig up a cute mini one yourself, or roll your giant one home – the choice is yours.
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Tickets are advised during weekends and half term, but on quieter times, you can just turn up with shovels.
Woore Fruit Farm is ripe and ready for picking, and it’s open 9am to 5pm daily, so you can go down and grab a pumpkin before Halloween is here.
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Featured Image – PublicDomainPictures
Things To Do
‘Big John’ is bringing his ‘BOSH’ bingo to Manchester
Danny Jones
Attention, all you ‘Big John’ lovers, the man himself is coming to Manchester this year for his very own ‘BOSH Bingo’ show.
Excessively large takeaway order not included*
That’s right, ‘Big John’ Fisher has gone from being a viral sensation famous for eating shedloads of Chinese and saying that one catchphrase to hosting his very own live bingo tour.
Even by his standards, his announcement video was an eye-catching one, to say the least – and we expect the event itself to be equally hilarious.
— big john the boshfather (@Johnfis08605918) January 7, 2026
For anyone somehow unfamiliar with ‘The Boshfather’, there isn’t a single sentence that isn’t completely accurate, and that doesn’t sum up pretty much everything you need to know about the man, the myth, the legend.
Besides his son, Johnny Fisher Jr., being an aspiring boxer and fellow influencer on the side, as well as having appeared on Newsnight to talk about the UK’s multiculturalism being what makes this ‘Great Britain’ (legend), his legacy will very much be written online and on the back of a take-out menu.
Or will it?…
Riding the back of his growing popularity and being quite literally the physical representation of a British bulldog, he’s now preparing to do live shows all over the country.
Set up at the start of the New Year, the 51-year-old will be heading to Manchester city centre and more throughout 2026 for his debut BOSH Bingo tour.
Visiting 12 locations in total, he is promising “rave intervals, on stage competitions, ‘bosh’ prizes and, of course, a sprinkle of chicken balls for good measure.”
Put simply, not only the chaos of everyone’s favourite Bongo’s, “This is not your average bingo night, it’s BOSH BINGO!”
Sounds ridiculous… We’re SO there.
Coming to The Grosvenor on Oxford Road on 21 February, before heading to the likes of Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield, just to name a few, you can grab your tickets right HERE.
Let’s just say there’s some very silly but nevertheless fun and fantastic stuff happening in town this year.
Featured Images — Publicity picture (via Bosh Bingo Events)/The Manc Group
Things To Do
Doux Chaton debuts in Manchester: Vietnamese and French cuisine meets the North West
Danny Jones
Regardless of our rivalry, the Scousers have given us a lot: The Beatles, two Premier League football clubs for us to get regularly riled up against, even the Bold Street brand – and now it’s the turn of Doux Chaton, who just landed in Manchester.
Vietnamese food right in the heart of town, but like you’ve never had it before, Doux Chaton is the Southeast Asian spot with a European twist that’s already turning heads.
In fact, despite quietly opening on the main Deansgate strip over the festive period, there was already plenty of passion for this place down the Mersey, as this Liverpool-founded business has developed a foodie favourite following here in the North West.
Run by owners Jimmy and Jennifer Ly, whose parents Ko and Linda moved to the UK back in the 70s, this place might be regionally born and bred, but it’s still deeply rooted in the rich heritage of two ex-pats helping bring some seriously incredible flavours to our shores.
Walking past the old unit on the ground floor of Great Northern Warehouse – during a real ghost town period for the city centre this past Christmas – we saw a team hard at work putting together their first Manc venue.
This was at around 10/11pm from memory, as we saw a man on ladders finishing the hand-lettered sign by lamplight; this is all relevant because, before anything, it’s worth noting that this place from 9am until 9pm all week round.
Yes, as in every single day.
Since they’re still relative newcomers, we’re not entirely sure when they take any time (if, indeed, they do at all), but one thing we can already vouch for is that hard work can well and truly be tasted in the food and drink they put out.
Expanding their traditional Vietnamese menu in Merseyside, Doux Chaton Deansgate has seen them create a whole new selection of sweet treats, doubling not only as a neo-French patisserie but as a platform to showcase both traditional and modern bakes from their home country.
There is a long history of their national cuisine being deeply influenced by the classical culinary culture in France, but when we tell you their bahn mi sandwiches and clever take on a sausage ‘pho’roll were even tastier than their decadent croque monsieur croissant, you know you’re on to something special.
And then there are the bowls of broth and noodles themselves; we tried plenty of pho in and around Greater Manchester, with plenty purporting to be ‘authentic’ – and many of them are – but there can be a question about this first and second generation team.
Taking ‘Mama Hong’s treasured recipes from the streets of Hanoi and elevating them ever so slightly in certain spots, whilst still letting the flavours, textures and smells speak for themselves, it’s comfortably some of the best Viet scran we’ve had in these parts.
The cute little cat in a bowl logo almost feels like the most warm and fitting welcome you could hope for.
Service with a smile, simply fantastic food, a bloody GREAT cup of stylish drip coffee and a big chalkboard where you can even leave your own message, not to mention unrelenting opening hours – this could be our new go-to at any given time of day.
Dolly Busby -
19th October 2021 
