Creepin' it real at the pumpkin patch
Who are Sandy Bottom Pumpkins?
The Sandy Bottom Pumpkin Patch is an annual pick your own pumpkin patch event based in Hedon, Hull, and with six generations of horticulture under their belt its safe to say they know a thing or two about farm produced crops – so when they got in touch to ask us to provide entertainment for their 2021 pumpkin season we jumped at the chance.
Each year when the smell of hot apple cider fills the air and pumpkin spice-latte sales go through the roof it signifies that autumn is finally upon us. It’s also at this time that thousands of eager pumpkin patch pickers descend on Sandy Bottom in search for the perfect pumpkin – and with over 50,000 pumpkins on site even the most indecisive customer will find the ideal one for them.
Stage One: The Brief
With it being a 15 day long, family Halloween event, open every weekend in October and daily during the school half term, our client had some specific requests – they wanted something creepy but not too scary, highly interactive, Halloween themed but also didn’t look out of place on a working farm or pumpkin patch.
Based on these specifications we suggested costumed Stilt Walkers. These larger than life characters can be seen from a far so are ideal for outdoor events like this one. They are perfect for meeting and greeting guests and offer a unique Instagramable moment with guests. To match the pumpkin patch environment it was decided that scarecrows would be the costume of choice.
Stage Two: The Costumes
To create our scarecrow costumes we looked at several famous scarecrow characters from TV, films and books such as The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, Tattybogal and Worzel Gummidge. We incorporated specific elements from each design to create custom costumes especially for Sandy Bottom complete with plaid shirts, floppy hats, bundles of straw and strategically placed fabric patches.
Stage Three: Venue Challenges
Our Stilt Walkers are experienced in walking on a variety of ground types such as grass, stones and concrete – They can even handle stairs and mild slopes, however a pumpkin patch poses it’s own unique set of challenges. With the venue being largely outdoors and open to the elements, if it rained to the point that the mud became too uneven or slippery then it could potentially cause a trip hazard for the stilt walkers – to combat this we created the scarecrow stilt costumes in such as way that they could be used both on and off stilts allowing for more freedom for the performers to interact as ground level characters if the situation called for it.
Our Stilt Walkers also focused their efforts on interacting at key locations within the site such as near the food vendors, at entrances and exits, and around the marquee stalls and shops, or in the places that people are naturally congregating or queueing.
Stage four: Eat, Drink and Be Happy
Pumpkins aren’t just for carving, their for eating too – but that doesn’t mean customers were expected to wolf down full pumpkins while on site, quite the contrary. Sandy Bottom had a selection of delicious gourmet food and hot drink options as well as family fun such as faceprinting, games and activities spread across the pumpkin patch site.
Stage five: Fill Your Barrow!
Happy families grabbed a wheelbarrow and headed out to the pumpkin patch to find pumpkins of all sizes and shapes. Large ones, small ones, white ones, orange ones, even green warty ones (Not to mention the occasional sunflower too!) They were even visited by local television celebrity, Jenny Newby of Gogglebox fame.
Stage Six: Giving Back to The Community
It’s always good to give back when you can and Sandy Bottom do just that, and they do it by the truck load. After another successful Halloween season down at the pumpkin patch they kindly donate all remaining pumpkins to food banks, charities and anyone who’s has had a hard time that might need a little pick me up. It may be too late for a jack-o’-lantern this year but its not too late for pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup and more.
“We are honoured that you guys choose us to celebrate the ever more popular Halloween period and we will be back with a vengeance for an even bigger 2022 season.”
– WILL OVERVOORDE
Sandy Bottom Pumpkins, Managing Director
Stilt Walkers can be the perfect addition to an event. With our vast selection of costumes and our ability to custom make something to suit your needs mean our Stilt Walkers can be tailored to any event theme.
To enquire about our Stilt Walkers please use our Contact page, or if you have your own ideas in mind and would like to discuss a custom package created just for you – feel free to drop us a message.