I’VE done my time at overpriced pumpkin patches, heading home with ropey-looking veg that cost £50.
Sp here are my top tips of how you can avoid scary spends over Halloween and pick up a pumpkin for pocket-money prices, while still having lots of frightful family fun.
If you’ve got National Trust or English Heritage membership, there’s lots of events over October half term for spooky season, most of them at no extra cost.
I don’t have membership, but you can often get free family entry if you keep an eye on offers in local papers.
Tesco Clubcard vouchers can be used to buy English Heritage membership, while cashback site Quidco can issue any funds in your account as a National Trust giftcard, which can pay for entry.
The National Trust has just launched a new Stranger Folk digital adventure, aimed at 7 to 12-year-olds, at sites including Belton House in Lincolnshire, Kingston Lacy in Dorset and Blickling in Norfolk.
October is also a great time to use any annual passes that you already have for local attractions, which might offer free or low-price Halloween or Bonfire Night events.
Our nearest historic house is holding a Monster Mayhem hunt around the gardens for just £2 and children get in free with Blue Peter badges, so it’s worth checking if there’s a similar offer at any tourist attractions in your area.
I’ll also be making use of our annual pass to Twycross Zoo to enjoy the wildlife-inspired trick-or-treat trail.
The site is offering pumpkin painting, face painting and a spooky show over October half term. If you’re on universal credits, you can get entry for £7, so it could be a cost-effective day out.
Woods and forests are brilliant backdrops for trick-or-treat trails and are usually free to visit.
Visitors to Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire can enjoy Robin Hood and the Haunting of Sherwood: A Spooky Scarecrow Adventure from October 18, following the Major Oak trail to crack the clues and claim a prize. Trail sheets cost £4.50.
Check out your local libraries for creepy craft and scary storytimes. Wareham Library near Poole in Dorset is holding a free spooky object handling session on Friday October 31, while Fosse Library in Leicester is offering haunted schoolhouse tours for ages 11 upwards on Thursday October 30.
Museums are perfect places for some free frightful fun, especially if the weather‘s wet and windy outside and you need an indoor option.
Head to the Royal Armouries’ Fort Nelson near Portsmouth to enjoy free Halloween-themed activities including face-painting, crafts and storytelling sessions over half term.
(Booking in advance is needed, thanks to restricted parking on site.)
Sports clubs, leisure centres and pubs often hold Halloween discos or Bonfire Night celebrations, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for posters while you’re out and about or looking on social media to see if you’ve got any free events near you.
And shopping centres might also be hosting special sessions over Halloween, with Haymarket in Leicester running a Freaky Friday event, including free crafts, a fancy dress competition, stilt walkers, comedy from Mr Trick and Mr Treat and even a chance to meet the Witches of Oz.
Check out council-run parks like Fairlands Valley in Stevenage for free fireworks.
Voluntary organisations run events at a fraction of the cost of profit-making companies and it’s win-win as the money is going back into a good cause.
Our local miniature railway has Halloween ghost trains running the last Sunday in October. Admission to the site is free and train rides are normally about £3 per person.
If a pumpkin patch really is a must-do for your little horrors at Halloween, you can keep costs low by picking one where entry is free, like Undley Farm near Bury St Edmunds.
Then you just pay for the individual attractions – family tickets for the maize maze are £19 and the inflatables are £3 per child.
You can grab your gourds while you’re there or just head to your nearest supermarket if you’re not picky about your pumpkins.
Obviously the best freebie fun is on October 31 itself, when darkness falls and everyone is out and about in fancy dress.
If you want to plan your route in advance, you can visit www.trickortreatmap.com to see which houses are taking part this year.
So there’s no need to fork out for fireworks or Halloween – there’s plenty of freebie fun out there if you know where to look.
For more Halloween fun, check out Europe’s biggest Halloween attraction just opened in the UK – it was so terrifying one Sun Writer lost her voice screaming.
And for more freebies, this map reveals seven pumpkin patches with FREE entry in UK this October.
