Apples, pumpkins and the bounty of autumn will be celebrated at a special festival next month.

The Westhall apple and pumpkin festival will take centre stage at the village hall and playing field on Saturday, October 13.

Starting at 2.30pm the bounty of autumn will be celebrated with a display of apples from Clarke’s Lane Orchard, free apple pressing, beeswax candle-making, themed face-painting, competitions including the longest apple peel, guessing the weight of the pumpkins and, of course, traditional apple bobbing.

And if you are proud of your pumpkins, then why not enter them for the produce show at the festival – as an apple and pumpkin-themed horticultural show will be showcased. This will include a section for best carved pumpkin, with certificates for winners and additional prizes for winning entries by those aged 16 and under.

Local resident Sally Bassett said: “We’re really excited to be celebrating the seasonal bounty with fun things to do for children as well as adults. “I’ve been enjoying getting my brain around creating an apple and pumpkin themed treasure hunt and testing out some of the puzzles on my two kids!”

For adults there will be a primer on fruit-tree pruning led by arboriculturalist Paul Jackson; a chance to join a scratch-choir to learn and perform a traditional wassail song; fun and prizes playing the human fruit machine, organised by the Westhall Youth Group.

Teas, coffees, seasonal refreshments and cider will be available throughout the afternoon.

The afternoon will end with the weighing of the entries for the heaviest pumpkin competition and awarding of the cup.

Organiser Kim Hoare said: “We expect the 45 minute fruit-tree pruning primer session to be popular, so if you fancy this, you’ll need to book ahead. “Paul Jackson will be running through the basics of fruit-tree pruning as well as demonstrating formative pruning for new trees and how to tackle trees that have got out of hand – I’ll be first in the queue for that!”

Entrance to the festival is free. Places are limited so to book please email kimhoare@btinternet.com who also has further details about the Produce Show categories.