Tulleys Farm
| Tulleys Farm | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Tulleys Farm Location within West Sussex | |
| OS grid reference | TQ 32983 35696 |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Crawley |
| Postcode district | RH10 |
| Website | www |
Tulleys Farm is a fourth-generation family farm, located in West Sussex. Originating in 1937, the farming business at Tulleys was founded by Bernard Beare, and continues to be run by the Beare family to this day. Tulleys is best known for its seasonal attractions, most notably the annual Halloween festival held each October, entitled Shocktober Fest which has become the largest scream park in Europe.
History
[edit]
Originally from Devon, Bernard Beare began farming in 1911 and gradually moved East over the subsequent 25 years. In 1937 he settled at Worth Hall Farm, working with his young family to turn an ordinary dairy farm into a successful farming enterprise. In addition to the original dairy herd, Bernard was able to produce salad crops for the London markets, vegetables for pickling firms such as Epicure and herbs like mint and parsley for contract.[1]
In the early 1970s, Bernard's son Denis saw the potential for pick-your-own and, with his wife Marion, pursued turning Tulleys Farm into one of the largest pick-your-own farms in the area. Growing over 40 different crops on 120 acres.[2]
Following Stuart Beare, the son of Denis and Marion, joining the farming business in 1991, the farm shop and tearoom were opened in 1992 and 1996 respectively,[3] the farm shop closed in 2014.[4] The farm shop re-opened in March 2020 but this time in the form of a drive thru.[5]
Attractions and Diversification
[edit]In the early 2000s, Tulleys Farm began expanding into immersive seasonal attractions. Its best-known event, Shocktober Fest, launched in 1997, has evolved into Europe’s largest scream park, attracting tens of thousands of visitors annually. The event includes a variety of haunted attractions, street theatre, circus shows, and thrill rides. Other seasonal offerings followed, including Tulleys Christmas, featuring Santa’s Grotto and festive markets, and Tulleys Christmas Light Festival, a large-scale light trail experience. In 2017, Tulleys opened Tulleys Escape Rooms, which has since become one of the UK’s top-rated escape room venues.[6][7]
Awards and Recognition
[edit]In 2004, Tulleys Farm was awarded Farm Retailer of the Year by the National Farmers Union, recognising its innovation, diversification, and excellence in farm retailing.[8]
In December 2024, Tulleys Farm won two major honours at the Sussex Business Awards held at The Grand Brighton. The farm was named Company of the Year and also received the Business Growth Award. The Company of the Year award recognises a business that stands out for ambition, profitability, growth, business planning, customer satisfaction, and staff management. Judges also praised the farm’s ongoing innovation, highlighting the launch of the Tulleys Christmas Light Festival as a standout achievement for 2024.[9]
Reluctant to label himself a ‘conventional farmer’, Stuart’s devotion to creating an experience for his customers has led to the establishment of seasonal events. Stuart’s son Sam joined the business in 2017.[10][11][12][13]
In 2021, they began to accept cryptocurrency.[14]
In 2022, Tulleys Escape Rooms received numerous awards, and three of the Escape Rooms, Dodge City, Nethercott Manor and Spellcraft were awarded as some of the Best Escape Rooms in the UK for 2022.[15]
Events
[edit]Tulleys Farm currently hosts multiple seasonal events across spring, summer, autumn, and winter. It also operates Tulleys Escape Rooms and a tearoom, both of which are open year-round. In recent years, the farm has introduced new events including a tulip festival and a winter light trail.[16]
Pumpkin Festival & Pumpkin Nights (Autumn)
[edit]Billed as the UK’s number-one pick-your-own pumpkin experience, this event spans around 100 acres and features over one million pumpkins and gourds. Visitors can explore the Pumpkin Village, which includes street food stalls, hot doughnuts, pumpkin-spice lattes, roaming characters, a boutique gift shop, and over 30 themed photo opportunities. A 33-metre observation wheel provides panoramic views of the fields. By night, the farm transforms into Pumpkin Nights, featuring moonlit pumpkin picking, live music, drinks, food, and entertainment.[17]
Tulleys Escape Rooms & Games
[edit]Tulleys Escape Rooms are immersive challenge rooms where participants have 60 minutes to solve puzzles and escape. Players receive hints from hosts via in-room speakers. There are currently four main rooms, with two additional smaller game rooms located in a nearby trailer.[18]
The Outfitters — Set in 1926 Chicago during the Prohibition era (Difficulty: 4)
Mutiny — A pirate adventure set in 1672 (Difficulty: 3)
Nethercott Manor — A haunted manor and garden escape (Difficulty: 5)
Dodge City — A Wild West themed escape experience (Difficulty: 4)
Shocktober Fest
[edit]
First launched in 1997 with The Creepy Cottage, Shocktober Fest has evolved into Europe’s largest scream park, attracting over 100,000 guests each year.[19][20]
The event features 11 haunted attractions, including Wastelands Penitentiary, Electrick Circus, The Chop Shop, and The Haunted Hayride.[21] It also offers live music, street theatre, themed food and drink, and circus shows.
The festival originally began in 1995 as a Pumpkin Festival with carving contests and added more Halloween attractions by 2003.[22]
Tulleys Christmas
[edit]
Tulleys hosts a family-friendly Christmas experience featuring a real ice rink, Santa sleigh ride, reindeer food making, and traditional festive activities like gingerbread decorating.
Tulleys Tulip Festival
[edit]In spring 2024, Tulleys Farm launched the Tulleys Tulip Festival at its West Sussex site. During the bloom, the festival showcased between 500,000 and 1.5 million tulips spanning approximately 100 different varieties, creating a vibrant tapestry of colour reminiscent of Dutch tulip fields. Visitors enjoyed scenic walking trails, immersive photo zones, and refreshments among the flowers.[23][24]
Following the success of the initial event, the festival expanded in 2025:
Tulleys Tulip Fields in St Albans, Hertfordshire, launched as a sister site for the spring season.[25]
Tulleys Tulip Garden near Hatton, Warwickshire, opened in early 2025, displaying similar scale and experience—approximately half a million tulips across photogenic trails and event zones.[26]
Tulleys Christmas Light Festival
[edit]In winter 2024, Tulleys introduced the Christmas Light Festival, featuring illuminated woodland trails and immersive displays such as The Lake of Wishes and Fire and Ice.[27]
Previous Attractions
[edit]Tulleys Maze (1998–2017)
[edit]In 1998, Tulleys hosted its first summer **Maize Maze**, designed by maze artist Adrian Fisher.[28] The event ran each summer until 2017 and featured an 8-acre maize maze, giant games, tractor rides, slides, a Secret Forest, and other family attractions. Visitors could also attend **Torch Nights** and complete the maze in the dark.[29]
The maze was discontinued in 2018 and replaced by the reintroduction of **pick-your-own pumpkins**, which marked the start of the now-popular Pumpkin Festival.[30] The change received media attention, including a live broadcast from ITV London.
Tulleys Sunflower Festival (2021–2024)
[edit]In the summers of 2021 and 2022, Tulleys Farm hosted a **Sunflower Festival**, inviting visitors to walk among vibrant sunflower fields, take photographs, and pick their own blooms. The festival featured dedicated photo zones and access to acres of sunflower-lined trails. The event proved popular during its short run but did not return in 2023.[31]
Stuart Beare
[edit]Stuart Beare | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | British farmer |
Stuart Beare, son of Denis and Marion Beare, and a grandson of Bernard Beare, the founder of Tulleys Farm, joined the business in 1991. Stuart Beare decided to grow pumpkins and hold the first Halloween event at Tulleys, the Pumpkin Festival. In 1997, Stuart created his first Horror Maze with 'The Creepy Cottage', the first 'spooky' attraction. In 2023, Stuart and his team have grown Tulleys into the largest scream park in Europe.[32]
More recently, Stuart diversified Tulleys Farm from just seasonal events through the introduction of Tulleys Escape Rooms. Stuart has been the driving force behind 5 Escape Rooms and 2 Escape Games at Tulleys Farm.[33]
In 2021, He was the author of the idea of receiving cryptocurrency as a payment form of the farm for all aspects on-site, including tickets and food.[34][35]
Shocktober Fest attractions
[edit]Current Mazes
- Creepy Cottage (1998–Present)
- Horrorwood Hayride (2002–Present)
- Electrick Circus - previously Twisted Clowns (2009–Present)
- HELL-EMENTS — previously VIXI (2011–Present)
- Chop Shop (2015–Present)
- The Village: Coven Of 13 (2016–Present)
- Wastelands Penitentiary (2019–Present)
- Doom Town (2022-Present)
- Purgatory (2024-Present)
- The Carving (2024-Present)
- Carnevil Cabaret (2024-Present)
Previous Mazes
- The Wreckening (2019–2020)
- Field Of Screams (2005–2011)
- Dr Plagues Maze (2013–2014)
- The Tunnel (2014–2015)
- Colony (2015–2018)
- The Volt (2015–2016)
- The Island (2021-2023)
- Circus Of Horrors (2018–2023)
- The Cellar (2009–2024)
References
[edit]- ^ "Family farm celebrates 70 years". Mid Sussex Times. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ "WIN CHAMPAGNE AND STRAWBERRIES". Mid Sussex Times. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ "Multiples bring headaches". Farmers Weekly. 14 June 1996. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ "Farm shop closes and no 'pick your own' at Tulleys". Crawley Observer. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ "Family radically reinvent events business again with farm shop Drive Thru". The Argus. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "Tulleys Shocktober Fest – Europe's Largest Scream Park". Tulleys Farm. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts' Choice Award – Tulleys Escape". Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Excelling in their field; innovation, diversification and commitment are the hallmarks of the NFU Excellence Awards national winners". Thefreelibrary.com.
- ^ "Tulleys Farm triumphs at Sussex Business Awards 2024". Sussex Express. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Farm launches Europe's biggest Shockober Fest Halloween festival". Crawley Observer. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ "What makes Shocktober Fest?". Mynewsdesk. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Cox, Chris (13 October 2013). "Scaring Yourself Silly This Halloween At Tulleys Shocktober Fest". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Nightingale-DNU, Laura (1 October 2015). "Halloween horrors set to scare at Tulleys Shocktober Fest". Get Surrey. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Dunford, Mark (20 April 2021). "Sussex attraction becomes first in UK to accept cryptocurrency - and they have already had more than 100 transactions". Sussex Express.
- ^ Gord (17 December 2022). "The Best Escape Rooms in the UK in 2022". Review the Room. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Turners Hill: Tulip Fest celebrates spring tapestry". BBC News. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "Look around Sussex's Tulleys Pumpkin Farm as UK's 'best pumpkin picking' spot opens". SussexLive. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ Westwell, Emily. "10 reasons to love Horley". Surrey Life.
- ^ "Halloween farm to scare 80,000 visitors". BBC News. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Hussein, S. "Tulley's Farm, Europe's biggest scream park hosts official press night". Blasting News. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Madge, Sophie (20 October 2017). "Europe's biggest scream park is back this Halloween and here's what to expect". Kent Live. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Cowood, Fiona (30 October 2023). "How Halloween toppled Christmas as Britain's favourite holiday". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "A Tulip Festival at a Sussex farm is showing off 1.5 million tulips from 100 different varieties". BBC Sussex. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Tulleys Farm to host a vibrant tulip festival in West Sussex this spring". Sussex Express. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
- ^ "Tulleys Tulip Fields opens in St Albans ahead of 2025 bloom season". Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Warwickshire to host tulip garden with 500,000 flowers". BBC News. 1 February 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "The Lake of Wishes & Fire and Ice: Watch mesmerising Christmas light displays at Sussex Winter Wonderland". Sussex Express. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
- ^ "Maize mazes open for the summer". BBC. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Truelove, Sam (13 July 2017). "Stunning hidden design in this amazing maize maze". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ "The sprawling Sussex farm home to one million pumpkins for picking". Sussex Live. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "This Magical Sunflower Field Is The Perfect Place To Visit This Summer". Secret London. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- ^ "Tulleys Shocktober Fest Scream Park - Scare Directory". Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Cozens, Georgie (22 March 2023). "The Complete Guide to Tulley's Escape Rooms Sussex". The Escape Roomer. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Attraction is first in UK to take cryptocurrency as Drive In Cinema reopens". The Argus. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ "Tulleys Farm owner on why he has moved to cryptocurrency". Sussex Express.
