# Tulleys Farm

Tulleys Farm is a fourth-generation family farm, located in West Sussex. Originating in 1937, the farming business at Tulleys was founded by Bernard Beare, and continues to be run by the Beare family to this day. Tulleys is best known for its seasonal attractions, most notably the annual Halloween festival held each October, entitled Shocktober Fest which has become the largest scream park in Europe.

## History

Originally from Devon, Bernard Beare began farming in 1911 and gradually moved East over the subsequent 25 years. In 1937 he settled at Worth Hall Farm, working with his young family to turn an ordinary dairy farm into a successful farming enterprise. In addition to the original dairy herd, Bernard was able to produce salad crops for the London markets, vegetables for pickling firms such as Epicure and herbs like mint and parsley for contract.
In the early 1970s, Bernard's son Denis saw the potential for pick-your-own and, with his wife Marion, pursued turning Tulleys Farm into one of the largest pick-your-own farms in the area. Growing over 40 different crops on 120 acres.
Following Stuart Beare, the son of Denis and Marion, joining the farming business in 1991, the farm shop and tearoom were opened in 1992 and 1996 respectively, the farm shop closed in 2014. The farm shop re-opened in March 2020 but this time in the form of a drive thru.
In 2004 the farm was awarded 'Farm Retailer of the Year' by the National Farmers Union.
Reluctant to label himself a ‘conventional farmer’, Stuart’s devotion to creating an experience for his customers has led to the establishment of seasonal events. Stuart’s son Sam joined the business in 2017.
In 2021, they began to accept cryptocurrency.
In 2022, Tulleys Escape Rooms received numerous awards, and three of the Escape Rooms, Dodge City, Nethercott Manor and Spellcraft were awarded as some of the Best Escape Rooms in the UK for 2022.

## Events

Tulleys Farm currently hosts three seasonal events, taking place in summer, autumn and winter. As well as the Tulleys tearoom and Escape rooms which are open all year round. The now have a tulip festival in spring.

### Tulleys Escape Rooms & Games

Tulleys Escape Rooms are live challenge rooms in which customers have 60 minutes to try and escape, aided by the help of attraction hosts, who give clues over speakers inside the room. There are currently 4 rooms to choose from and a further 2, smaller and easier game rooms in a nearby trailer.
* The Outfitters — Set in 1926 Chicago, in the midst of crime (Difficulty: 4).
* Mutiny — Set in 1672 the golden age of Piracy (Difficulty: 3).
* Nethercott Manor — Set in an old manor house and its gardens (Difficulty: 5).
* Dodge City — A wild west themed escape room (Difficulty: 4)
In December 2019 two new escape games were introduced UNCLE TICK-TOCK's CIRCUS & KRAKEN CASINO the two escape games are both an hour long, aimed at beginners, fun, simple and contained in just one room

### Tulleys Maze

In 1998, Tulleys Farm was host to its first maze, created by artist Adrian Fisher.
Open from mid-July until early September, Tulleys Maze is the farm’s main summer event, centered around an eight acre Maize field which is transformed into a challenging maze. In addition to the Giant Maize Maze there are numerous giant games, mini mazes, tractor rides, giant slides, and attractions such as the Secret Forest, Farmers Golf and Straw Mountain. Towards the end of the Maze period Torch Nights also take place, giving visitors the opportunity to complete the maze in the dark.
The maze did not open in the summer of 2018 and was instead replaced with the re-introduction of pick-you-own to Tulleys Farm in the form of Pumpkins. This was met with great excitement with ITV London broadcasting the weather live from the fields.

### Shocktober Fest

In 1995, Beare introduced the Pumpkin Festival at Tulleys Farm in West Sussex, England, which included a pumpkin carving competition. This was followed by the creation of "The Creepy Cottage" haunted house in 1997. By 2003, the farm featured several Halloween attractions such as the Spooky Wagon Ride and the Haunted Hayride, drawing significant visitor numbers.
Shocktober Fest is the Halloween event held yearly at Tulley’s Farm. It offers a total of 11 haunts, including Wastelands Penitentiary, electrick circus, The Chop Shop, The Haunted Hayride, and more The event additionally offers a variety of live music and freshly prepared food. It is known to be Europe’s largest Scream Park. Shocktober Fest is attracting over 100,000 guests every year.
By 2023, the farm featured several Halloween attractions such as the Spooky Wagon Ride and the Haunted Hayride, drawing significant visitor numbers.

### Tulleys Christmas

The farm holds Christmas experience for the winter season, which consists of a real ice rink, Santa sleigh ride and a number of other traditional farm activities such as Reindeer food making and gingerbread decorating.

## Stuart Beare

Stuart Beare, son of Denis and Marion Beare, and a grandson of Bernard Beare, the founder of Tulleys Farm, joined the business in 1991. Stuart Beare decided to grow pumpkins and hold the first Halloween event at Tulleys, the Pumpkin Festival. In 1997, Stuart created his first Horror Maze with 'The Creepy Cottage', the first 'spooky' attraction. In 2023, Stuart and his team have grown Tulleys into the largest scream park in Europe.
More recently, Stuart diversified Tulleys Farm from just seasonal events through the introduction of Tulleys Escape Rooms. Stuart has been the driving force behind 5 Escape Rooms and 2 Escape Games at Tulleys Farm.
In 2021, He was the author of the idea of receiving cryptocurrency as a payment form of the farm for all aspects on-site, including tickets and food.

## Shocktober Fest attractions

Current Mazes
* Creepy Cottage (1998–Present)
* Horrorwood Hayride (2002–Present)
* The Cellar (2009–Present)
* Electrick Circus - previously Twisted Clowns (2009–Present)
* HELL-EMENTS — previously VIXI (2011–Present)
* Chop Shop (2015–Present)
* The Village: Coven Of 13 (2016–Present)
* Wastelands Penetentiary (2019–Present)
* Doom Town (2022-Present)
* Purgatory (2024-Present)
* The Carving (2024-Present)
* Carnevil Cabaret (2024-Present)
Previous Mazes
* The Wreckening (2019–2020)
* Field Of Screams (2005–2011)
* Dr Plagues Maze (2013–2014)
* The Tunnel (2014–2015)
* Colony (2015–2018)
* The Volt (2015–2016)
* The Island (2021-2023)
* Circus Of Horrors (2018–2023)