Parents in the UK hoping to make “memories that last a lifetime” with their children at the Suffolk Pumpkin Patch were instead forced to leave early and demanded refunds for their disappointment.
Alex Dodman, a reviewer on Instagram and TikTok with more than 450,000 followers, described the experience as “the UK’s most depressing pumpkin patch”, claiming organisers had decided to “chuck a load of Tesco pumpkins in a field” with “a load of rip-off fairground rides and food vans”.
The pop-up attraction at Barton Mills, Bury St Edmunds, has drawn comparisons to a 2024 Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow, which was so disastrous it closed just hours after opening and inspired a musical comedy.
Tickets for the pumpkin patch cost up to £5.40 ($12.75) per head, before additional booking fees, payments for attractions, the pumpkins themselves and food.
Organisers defended the prices, saying it was a “small family-run business” and accusing visitors of smashing pumpkins.
It has been open on selected dates through October, advertising “hundreds of pumpkins”, a “44-metre observation wheel” and “autumn photo opportunities”.
Dodman suggested it had been “advertised with excessive AI slop”, and other customers also documented their disappointment.
Dodman said she had “three very disappointed children” and had demanded a refund.
Another post, by Chloe Dyer, complained that the pumpkin patch, which was reportedly subject to an additional fee to access, with further payments to buy the decorations, was damaged.
She said: “Half the pumpkins were smashed. Only orange and white pumpkins despite the website stating they have varieties – the only variety were a couple of red and grey placed on a table by the gate.
“The K-pop entertainment was abysmal. The mini-golf was smashed up, including nails poking out where kids are playing. One disappointed little girl and a waste of a yearly tradition.”
An Instagram user with the handle “mummakingmagic” said in her review: “The K‑pop performers tried their best, but the music kept cutting out, the lip‑syncing wasn’t syncing, and they were performing on a patch of grass in front of a random white lorry.
“Even standing on hay bales didn’t help – you still couldn’t see a thing and the music choices were pretty random including the Macarena.”
The user added: “The mini-golf was so broken it felt like an insurance claim waiting to happen, the target practice balls were all crushed, and the space hopper area was basically Lord of the Flies: Autumn Edition. Face painting had a queue that could be seen from space.”
The attraction organisers said in a statement: “We often get asked ‘Why do you charge an entrance fee to the pumpkin patch?’ Well, unfortunately, this is one of the reasons why ...
“Every morning, after a busy day welcoming families to our patch, we are faced with the heartbreaking sight of more and more pumpkins deliberately smashed, damaged displays and unnecessary mess left behind.”
They continued: “Would you walk into Tesco and start smashing the fruit and vegetables because there wasn’t a sign telling you not to? Of course not! So why should it be any different here? Surely we shouldn’t need signs telling people not to deliberately destroy things that don’t belong to them?
“And sadly, it’s not just the pumpkins. We’ve also had displays, activities damaged and our skeletons pulled apart.”
A spokesman for Suffolk Pumpkin Patch told the Daily Telegraph: “We are a small family of three and it’s our first year of putting the pumpkin patch on.
“We source pumpkins from farmers in Suffolk, and each week we bring around 1500 to 2000 extra pumpkins to make sure people have a good choice. This year is all a learning curve and we hope some people have had a really good time. We understand we can’t please all.”
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.Smashed pumpkins, a dilapidated mini-golf course and a “monstrosity” of a K-pop performance were not what families expected from their trip to a Hallowe’en attraction.