Open Farm Sunday

What is Open Farm Sunday?

Open Farm Sun­day encour­ages farm­ers to open their gates to the pub­lic. It’s an oppor­tu­ni­ty to edu­cate the com­mu­ni­ty about farm­ing, show­case your work, and con­nect with peo­ple inter­est­ed in agri­cul­ture and sustainability.

Why should I participate?

By par­tic­i­pat­ing, you can:

• Raise aware­ness about your farm and agri­cul­tur­al practices.
• Fos­ter a bet­ter under­stand­ing of farming’s role in food pro­duc­tion and sustainability.
• Build stronger com­mu­ni­ty connections.

Inspire the next gen­er­a­tion of farm­ers and advo­cates for sus­tain­able agriculture.

How do I register to participate?

Vis­it the offi­cial Open Farm Sun­day web­site www​.farm​sun​day​.org, click on reg­is­ter my event, and com­plete the online reg­is­tra­tion form. Reg­is­tra­tion gives you access to FREE resources, pro­mo­tion­al mate­ri­als, and sup­port from the LEAF OFS team.

Do I have to open my event on Open Farm Sunday?

No, events can take place on any date in June, and you can organ­ise more than one event or open on both the Sat­ur­day and Sun­day. Although the major­i­ty of events take place on the day itself.

How do I prepare for the event?

• Plan activ­i­ties that show­case dif­fer­ent aspects of your farm, such as guid­ed tours, machin­ery dis­plays, and demonstrations.
• Ensure facil­i­ties like park­ing, toi­lets, and refresh­ments are available.
• Cre­ate clear sig­nage for visitors.
• Arrange staff or vol­un­teers to help man­age the event.

What resources are available to help me organise?

LEAF pro­vides:

• Free Open Farm Sun­day hand­book which will sup­port you. This hand­book can either be a pdf or print­ed and post­ed to you.
• Safe­ty check­lists and tem­plates for risk assessments.
• Mar­ket­ing mate­ri­als like posters, fly­ers, resources to use at your event and social media assets.
• Per­son­al calls, a series of online Zoom and in-per­son events for infor­ma­tion and to dis­cuss event ideas with expe­ri­enced hosts.
• Read the reg­u­lar OFS Update e‑newsletters which are emailed to you regularly. 

When can I order my resources?

1^st March each year the online order­ing sys­tem goes live. You must have reg­is­tered an event and it must be approved, before you can order items. Log in on the web­site and fol­low the link to ​‘Order my resources’

Do I need insurance for the event?

Yes, all farm­ers who host an Open Farm Sun­day event must have a min­i­mum £5 mil­lion pub­lic lia­bil­i­ty insur­ance and you need to have noti­fied your insur­ance provider before your event, to ensure that the activ­i­ties you are plan­ning are cov­ered for vis­i­tors on your farm.

How can I get others involved in my event?

To spread the work­load and demon­strate the breadth of knowl­edge, skills and exper­tise in farm­ing — team up with your farm­ing neigh­bours, agron­o­mist, vet, con­ser­va­tion advi­sor etc. You could ask them to be a part of your event, to say a few words on the farm tour to give you some breath­ing space! There may also be able to use their mar­ket­ing skills to help pub­li­cise your event. You could also involve oth­er local peo­ple and groups in the com­mu­ni­ty to get involved such as Young Farm­ers, the Scouts etc.

How much should I charge visitors to my event?

We don’t envis­age an entry fee for Open Farm Sun­day events. How­ev­er, if you want to raise funds have a cause that is close to your heart such as a local char­i­ty, or charge for spe­cif­ic activ­i­ties such as trac­tor and trail­er rides, make sure you make that clear on your web­site entry and on your pub­lic­i­ty material.

What types of activities should I offer?

Many farms offer lots of dif­fer­ent activ­i­ties. Here are just a few examples:

• Tours: Explain farm­ing process­es and sus­tain­abil­i­ty efforts.
• Hands-on Expe­ri­ences: Let vis­i­tors try feed­ing ani­mals or plant­i­ng seeds.
• Dis­plays: Show­case machin­ery, crops, or local produce.
• Fam­i­ly Activ­i­ties: Offer activ­i­ties like trea­sure hunts, trac­tor rides, or edu­ca­tion­al games.
• Work­shops: Dis­cuss top­ics like bio­di­ver­si­ty, soil health, or renew­able energy.

How should I direct visitors around my event?

Let the char­ac­ters from Shaun the Sheep help your vis­i­tors find their way around your farm and encour­age them to keep their hands clean. We’ve got lots of signs for you to down­load and print out.

If pos­si­ble have a map of the farm on hand or have vol­un­teers at the entrance to help direct visitors.

How do I make my event engaging for all ages?

• Include kid-friend­ly activ­i­ties like meet­ing the ani­mals or inter­ac­tive games.
• Offer infor­ma­tive talks for adults about farm­ing prac­tices and sustainability.
• Pro­vide food and drink options to make it a fun out­ing for families.

Can I sell products during the event?

Yes, this is a great oppor­tu­ni­ty to sell your farm’s pro­duce or home­made goods. Con­sid­er set­ting up a stall for vis­i­tors to pur­chase local food or crafts.

What Health and Safety measures should I consider?

Health and Safe­ty is impor­tant but it should not over­shad­ow your day. The key is to assess the risks and plan around them. We’ve com­piled some of the key infor­ma­tion and gold­en rules for you, along with a tem­plate risk assess­ment which many host farm­ers find very use­ful, find out more here.

How can I ensure visitor safety?

• Con­duct a thor­ough risk assess­ment using LEAF’s templates.
• Clear­ly mark haz­ardous areas and restrict access to them.
• Pro­vide hand­wash­ing sta­tions, espe­cial­ly near livestock.
• Have a first aid kit and trained first-aiders on-site.
• Brief staff and vol­un­teers on safe­ty protocols.

Do I need special facilities for visitors?

Basic facil­i­ties include park­ing, toi­lets, and hand­wash­ing areas. If you’re expect­ing fam­i­lies, con­sid­er pro­vid­ing baby-chang­ing areas.

If you are offer­ing food, make sure that it is along Health and Safe­ty guide­lines; please check with the Food Stan­dards agency (FSA), and Local Coun­cil Guideline.

How do I handle large crowds?

• Plan for extra park­ing and traf­fic management.
• Use a tick­et­ing sys­tem to con­trol vis­i­tor num­bers if needed.
• Ensure you have enough staff or vol­un­teers to man­age the event smoothly.
• Pro­mot­ing Your Event

How can I promote my Open Farm Sunday event?

• List your event on the Open Farm Sun­day website.
• Use social media to share updates and gen­er­ate excitement.
• Dis­trib­ute fly­ers in your local community.
• Col­lab­o­rate with local schools, busi­ness­es, and media out­lets to spread the word.

Can LEAF help with promotion?

Yes, reg­is­tered farms gain access to mar­ket­ing mate­ri­als like posters, ban­ners, and press release tem­plates to pro­mote their event.

How do I gather feedback from visitors?

Use feed­back forms or online sur­veys to under­stand what vis­i­tors enjoyed and areas for improve­ment. LEAF also col­lect vis­i­tor feed­back to share with par­tic­i­pat­ing farms.

Can I follow up with visitors after the event?

Yes, con­sid­er build­ing a mail­ing list for newslet­ters, future events, or farm updates. This can help you main­tain con­nec­tions with your community.

What should I do after the event?

• Reflect on what worked well and what could be improved.
• Share pho­tos and high­lights from the day on social media and with the OFS team
• Thank vis­i­tors and vol­un­teers for their support.
• Report your par­tic­i­pa­tion to LEAF and pro­vide any required feedback.

What if I need help or advice?

Before your event, LEAF pro­vides sup­port through their phone call with you, zoom series and host farmer. For your event, LEAF pro­vides resources for pro­mo­tion and the day, so reach out to the team for assis­tance with plan­ning or troubleshooting.

Do I have to be a LEAF member to participate?

No, Open Farm Sun­day is open to all types of farms, regard­less of LEAF mem­ber­ship. Open Farm Sun­day is open to all types and sizes of farms; every­one can and should get involved – it is the farm­ing annu­al open day, and the breadth of events makes the ini­tia­tive so unique.

What if I need to cancel or reschedule?

Inform LEAF and your reg­is­tered vis­i­tors as soon as pos­si­ble so they can dis­able your event on the web­site. Update any pro­mo­tion­al mate­ri­als to reflect the changes.