Halloween Lakeside Light Trail (Cheshire) Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS EXPERIENCE WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST/S FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.
Reviewed by Becky B
If you love all things Halloween and want to get into the spirit of autumn, the Halloween Lakeside Light trail, at Partridge Lakes in Culcheth, Warrington (Cheshire) is for you. Being the only one of its kind locally we were really keen to see what was on offer.
It was easy to find the venue from the M6 motorway and although we initially went past the entrance (it was a little dark on the lane and we missed the sign first time around) we really shouldn’t have as there were plenty of marshal’s directing cars right from the lane into the venue. The car park was not the biggest, but was well organised, enough for all the cars visiting on the evening and is pre-bookable for £5.
On arrival, you walk into the main food area, and there is a range of the usual burgers, hot dogs and crepes but with some interesting additions including a stand selling Vietnamese food, halloumi and even a doggie treat stand. (One of the things we loved about this event was that it was dog friendly, and although we didn’t take our pups on this visit, this is always a big plus for us). The food area had a good number of tables and was covered with a canopy. We were also very pleased to find there were plenty of heaters to keep you warn as you ate. The area was decorated with pumpkins and fairy lights and set the scene well for the trail.
As we moved on, we found a further food area, this time with hot drinks including speciality teas and coffees, sweet treats like candy floss and popcorn and a stall selling the ingredients to make gooey s’mores and toasted marshmallows which we bought for £4. For this we got 3 super large marshmallows and chocolate biscuits. Under another nearby canopy were two fire-pits where you could toast your marshmallows, which was great fun if a bit sticky! (There was a toilet block in this area which was good to wash sticky fingers!). It was at this point we entered the Halloween trial proper.
The lighting changed to spooky blues, greens and reds and as we wandered around the lake, spooky music was played to add to the atmosphere. As we wandered along the spooky pathway, there were displays to stop and look at from animated pumpkins, to spooky clowns and witches hat lanterns. The theming was good and there were even smoke effects to add to the spooky atmosphere. There were plenty of areas to stop and take pictures along the route.
We were a little worried as the evening we were due to visit, it had been raining heavily for most of the day and this persisted into the evening so we made sure we had our waterproof coats and wellies, but we needn’t have worried. Although there were some patches of mud, generally the ground was hard stone, I was glad we had worn our wellies but I was surprised we didn’t need our umbrella, although it rained throughout our visit. The majority of the trail is covered by tree canopy, which adds to the spooky feel, but also provides cover from bad weather – so this was a definite advantage. According to the venue information, the event is wheelchair accessible, but there were a couple of areas which were a little steeply inclined which is worth bearing in mind. We did see an accessible toilet in the first food area and there were lots of marshal’s around the trail should assistance be needed too.
The Halloween Light Trail is not a scare fest, with spooky things jumping out at you and so is suitable for children of all ages. We saw lots of young children enjoying the trail and lots with pushchairs making their way around. The scariest of the decorations would have to be the spooky clown, which is about halfway around the route, but you could give this a wide berth if young children found it too scary. At the end of the trail is the opportunity for a photo with a princess character, in a Halloween setting.
On finishing the trail, we went to get food and between us tried several the stands. We were impressed with all the food and found the prices to be reasonable for the quality of food offered. The Vietnamese Beef Pho was outstanding, and lovely to have an alternative from the usual burgers. My daughter was also impressed with her crepe, which was huge and covered in chocolate and strawberries!
All in all, we had a really lovely evening at the Halloween Light trail and were onsite for about an hour and a half in total. We would have liked the light trail to be a little longer as we were having a great time, but felt it finished too soon. You can stay longer if you choose to just enjoy the atmosphere and we did do this, staying to get food and chat about our evening.
I would score the Halloween Light Trail 3.5/5 stars
Tickets Cost from £14 for children and £18 for adults and family tickets also available. This is a ticket only event and tickets must be purchased in advance.
You can Visit the Halloween Lakeside Light Trail from 2nd October – 31st October
You can find out more or buy tickets here.
Rating: 3.5/5