A fun day for all the family is returning to the county, as Kilduff Farm prepares to host its pumpkin festival.

The farm, near Athelstaneford, is home to a much-visited pumpkin patch, specialising in culinary pumpkins as well as traditional Hallowe’en varieties.

Lucy and Russell Calder took over the arable farm from Russell’s grandfather in 2010 – the farm has been in the Calder family since 1963.

More than 30,000 pumpkin seeds were sown by the family earlier this year, alongside about 500 dahlia tubers.

A wide range of culinary varieties of pumpkins have been grown, including Crown Prince, Tractor, Porcelain Doll, Kuri and Festival, with the Calders continuing their campaign to encourage more of us to eat the pumpkins and not toss them aside when Hallowe’en celebrations are over.

The bale maze and mountain will return, enabling youngsters to run off some steam, and there will be no shortage of photo opportunities, with the return of the Pumpkin House as well as Russell’s vintage GMC pickup truck, ‘Blue’.

There will also be a range of floral installations, and a piano for those keen to show off their musical talents.

Hungry pumpkin pickers will have a chance to enjoy a selection of food and drink from local suppliers, and the Big Red Barn will also be popping up, where visitors can bag some Kilduff produce and other treats and crafts created by local makers.

Russell, managing director at Kilduff Farm, said: “Growing good food and trialling new crops is at the heart of everything we do here at Kilduff.

“As farmers, it is important to educate the public about all the wonderful things that we can grow and produce here in Scotland, and reduce the reliance on importing from overseas.

“Our pumpkin festival is a celebration of everything we grow in our little corner of East Lothian, and we want to encourage more people into the countryside to showcase what we do.

“We also want to inspire people to grow their own, whether that’s fruit, vegetables or cut flowers, and we are passionate about cooking and eating seasonally.

“As well as reducing food miles and food waste, we also want to highlight the miles associated with importing cut flowers into the UK from abroad.

“This hasn’t had the necessary attention until recently and people don’t think twice about where the flowers they buy come from.

“The flowers you find on supermarket shelves are often flown in from Africa and other far-flung places.

“They have been grown in greenhouses, conditions are often poor and pesticides are used.

“We can and do grow good-quality, seasonal flowers and food here in this country and that needs to be celebrated.”

To book tickets for the pumpkin festival, which starts on October 13, go to www.kilduff.co.uk