I went to Farmer Copleys' Tulip Festival 2025 - and it was even better than last year!
The Pontefract attraction’s Tulip Festival has returned for 2025 so I went down to see if it was just as impressive as last year and *spoiler alert* it was even better!
Located just off Pontefract Road is Ravensknowle Farm, known to many as the award-winning Farmer Copleys.
The local attraction, ran by Pontefract power couple, Heather and Rob Copley, has become a firm favourite within Yorkshire with it often hosting a variety of unique events and activities throughout the year.
This includes their popular Pumpkin Festival, which has become a Halloween staple within the community, and their growing *no pun intended* Tulip Festival.
I already knew I was going to attend the festival when it returned for 2025, following the success of my first visit last year – however, I didn’t realise how much the farm had spent in truly upgrading it.
This year, the festival spanned over five acres, with the team planting over 500,000 individual bulbs consisting of 65 different varieties.
As someone who his only encouraged my desire to go even further.
So, despite the clouds in the sky, my partner, our beloved minature dachshund and I drove down to Farmer Copleys on Tuesday (March 15).
It was like a scene from a movie upon arrival, as the clouds parted the sky to reveal the sun, which shone brightly over the colourful fields.
I prebooked the tickets prior to arriving, but they could be bought on the door for £10.
It is there that a very lovely worker gave a great overview of what the festival entailed, the areas to explore and the hard work that had gone into making it happen.
I do wish I got his name, as he was fantastic!
The fields spanned far, with thousands of brightly coloured tulips planted across them.
Despite it being the school holidays for many, it wasn’t too overly busy which was perfect for us.
As we walked around, a smell of floral freshness filled the air.
I saw visitors who had carefully curated their outfit, trying to take the perfect spring picture and there was the sound of a lovely acoustic guitar courtesy of a live performer.
It really did feel like something plucked from a wholesome romantic-comedy film.
This year, not only were there more tulips, but a ferris wheel, various food and drink stall, and even a Dutch bar.
The Farmer Copleys’ team have clearly spent time trying to take the festival to the next level – which they have very successfully achieved.
There were various photo opportunities across the fields, including a giant deck chair, a bridge and even a kennel for their four-legged visitors.
Unfortunately, whilst I tried to snap a photo of our pooch in the kennel she is not too big a fan of staying still – especially for photos.
The afternoon flew by, we must have spent over an hour just wandering through the fields – taking in the beauty of the tulips and the blue skies.
Even our pup seemed to be having the best day, with her wandering through the tall rows of flowers despite them towering over her.
Exploring the area proved to be one of the best parts of the day as there were rows and rows of different variations of tulips, many of which I’d never heard of before, that stood tall basking in the sun.
We visited the Bratwurst stand for some lunch, deciding on a lovely cheese-filled Krakauer each – which made for the perfect easy lunch.
After refuelling, we finally decided to pick our own bouquet in one of the festival’s ‘Pick Your Own Zones’.
This year, due to the vast variety and amount of tulips, the team set up two areas specifically for picking.
Both were filled with rows of stunning flowers in every colour you could imagine.
This year, visitors could pick as many flowers as they wanted, with it being £1 per stem.
We ultimately settled on picking ones we had never seen before as oppose to creating some sort of planned bouquet.
Despite this, each one we picked seemed to blend harmoniously with the others – with us settling on six gorgeous tulips in various colours.
After an incredible afternoon, as the sun finally decided to disappear, we decided to get ready to go home.
But this was not before we visited the attraction’s award-winning farm shop.
It would not be a visit to Farmer Copleys if you did not spend an unneccesary amount of time browsing the fantastic farm shop.
As always, I picked up some fresh strawberries – which I must say are some of the best I’ve ever had.
We also picked up some very intriguing ‘Bhaji Bombs’ from the butchers – a spherical lamb ball filled with a yoghurt sauce that sounded incredible.
After a great afternoon, and a great chat with the farm shop cashier about dachshunds, we finally decided to head off.
Reflecting on an amazing day, I can only say thank you the incredible team at Farmer Copleys for once again putting on such a wonderful event.
The hardwork that has been put into upgrading the festival is apparent, and I do hope that it returns next year at the same scale.
The Tulip Festival is something I would recommend to anyone that enjoys a great day out – whether you’re looking for an easy day of family fun, or just want to take some beautiful photos amongst the flowers.
The farm continues to impress me, and I find myself looking forward to these incredible events – now, roll on strawberry picking in summer!
The Tulip Festival takes place until April 27, with tickets available online and on the door.
To find out more, or to book tickets, visit: https://farmercopleys.co.uk/tulip-festival/