Light Post Farm Event with Glowworm at White Post Farm, Newark Review

DISCLOSURE – THIS EXPERIENCE WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST/S FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.

Reviewed by Michelle M

This Christmas season White Post Farm in Farnsfield Nottinghamshire have teamed up with Glowworm to present the “Light Post Farm” event evenings. These evenings open at 4:30pm and end at 9pm every Thursday evening and every weekend evening until Sunday the 22nd of December.

We arrived in the car park at 4:30pm and were met with a big queue. The 5pm tickets we had said doors open at 4:30 so it seems that everyone had chosen to arrive then. By the time we had got out of the car and sorted putting coats on the queue was moving, though we still had around a ten minute wait to get through and in. We were given a map on entry but I forgot to actually look at it as we followed other people around the trail.

We started off looking at the disco duck pond and had a little boogie to the Christmas music that was playing. We then headed down bluebell walk but realised we had missed something so backtracked a little to see the “tree mendous” display before continuing back to the bluebell walk and round the rest of the trail. Each point was helpful labelled with a number so we could Identify what section we were at. The parts that most interested my child were the triangle tunnel tree and the tunnel of light, probably because those lights went right down to the ground so he could see them better as he was walking through them. I particularly liked the oh dear display and “Mervs lit up lookout” which was the outdoor playground transformed.

Some areas of this trail were a lot darker than I’d have expected and some of it was slightly bumpy. Having been raining a lot lately there were also muddy patches but we’d come prepared for that with welly boots. Despite this it remained pushchair friendly the whole way round and even though it was dark we did manage to see some sheep, goats and pigs on the way round.

Next up was the silver barn where we could see the ewes with new born lambs and a pair of reindeer having a rest while they visited. There was a giant illuminated Advent Calendar here too which was interesting to look at. We then came to the indoor jungle barn where the children could play on the themed play equipment or the toboggan slide. We didn’t linger in here as I wanted to find somewhere less busy to feed my child his tea and said child had a tantrum because I wouldn’t let him climb onto the bottom of the toboggan slide ramp.

We stopped in the lunch barn to get some food and a drink which were reasonably priced I thought. They didn’t have a large menu for food, we had chips and a cheese and onion bake but they also had sausage rolls and nachos which were tempting too. I was pleasantly surprised they had decaf lattes available so I enjoyed a festive gingerbread latte.

Once we’d eaten and felt refreshed we headed back outside to see what we hadn’t visited yet. The nocturnal and reptile house was open but we ended up skipping it as my son would not go through the plastic flaps inside the door, running off every time he saw them. As we approached the bird of prey enclosures we heard an owl greeting us so we stopped to admire it.

Entrance tickets gain access to the festive mini Christmas market as well. Here we could have enjoyed hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows. Also on offer was the chance to decorate gingerbread and create reindeer dust to take home. We could have stayed longer and easily passed more time playing and enjoying the atmosphere if not for the fact that bedtime had been reached and tiredness combined with excitement at being out in the dark led to grumpiness and tears. Despite not seeing and doing everything available we were at the event for over two hours and definitely enjoyed ourselves.

When booking tickets you choose an hourly time slot for entry. If you have older children who will tolerate a later night you may find the slightly later time slots much quieter than the first one. As we were leaving there were more spaces in the car park and no one was queuing to get in.

Rating: 4.5/5

Light Post Farm Tickets are £13.20 each or £49.50 for a family ticket admitting two adults and two children (including online booking fees). Under 2s go free. Purchase tickets from www.gigantic.com.