Join us for top tips and support!

Whether you are host­ing your first Open Farm Sun­day event or an expe­ri­enced host look­ing for new ideas, we have a fab­u­lous pro­gramme of host farmer meet­ings to sup­port you. Fol­low­ing the huge suc­cess of last year’s in-per­son host farmer meet­ing in Northamp­ton­shire, we’re organ­is­ing two in-per­son meet­ings in March 2025 — in York­shire and in Berk­shire. Plus we have our reg­u­lar series of Zoom meet­ings to sup­port you along your OFS jour­ney and to con­nect you with like-mind­ed host farm­ers and indus­try pro­fes­sion­als to bring inspi­ra­tion to your event. 

In-per­son Host Farmer Meetings

• York­shire — Stock­bridge Tech­nol­o­gy Cen­tre, Sel­by YO8 3TZ
  • 20^th March 2025, 10:30am to 3:30pm
    
  • Details of speak­ers and work­shops will be pub­lished ear­ly in the New Year
  • Book your tick­ets to attend here: https://​www​.try​book​ing​.com/​u​k​/EFAV

• Berk­shire — Yat­ten­don Estate, Thatch­am RG18 0UT
  • 26^th March 2025, 10:30am to 3:30pm
  • Details of speak­ers and work­shops will be pub­lished ear­ly in the New Year
  • Book your tick­ets to attend here: https://​www​.try​book​ing​.com/​u​k​/EFNR
    
    

Online Zoom meet­ings:

• OFS 2025 — All about Open Farm Sun­day 2025
  Join the OFS team to find out what’s planned for Open Farm Sun­day 2025 — our theme and resources. Let’s start cul­ti­vat­ing plans for your OFS event! [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  
  • Wednes­day Jan­u­ary 29^th 2025 @ 1:00pm
    
    
• Dis­cov­er OFS — First time host­ing!
  An intro­duc­tion to Open Farm Sun­day. Find out how oth­er farm­ers run their events – from an OFS ​‘lite’ option to a ​‘full’ open after­noon — there’s an option for all farm­ers to suit you and your farm. Plus get your ques­tions answered! [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  • Tues­day Feb­ru­ary 11^th 2025 @ 1:00pm
  • Tues­day April 15^th 2025 @ 2:00pm
    
    
• OFS 2025 — Tick­et­ing events and how to use Try­Book­ing
  A look at the FREE book­ing sys­tem, Try­Book­ing and how it can ben­e­fit you, your Open Farm Sun­day event and oth­er events you might run through­out the year. [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  • Thurs­day Feb­ru­ary 27^th 2025 @ 1:00pm
    

• OFS 2025 — Pub­lic­i­ty and how to boost vis­i­tor num­bers
  Join us to dis­cuss mar­ket­ing your Open Farm Sun­day event and how to boost vis­i­tor num­bers. [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  • Tues­day 11^th March 2025 @ 2:00pm
    
    
• OFS 2025 — Plan­ning and logis­tics
  This meet­ing will focus on logis­tics for your OFS event and man­ag­ing vis­i­tors to your farm. [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  • Wednes­day 2^nd April 2025 @ 10:00am
    
    
• OFS 2025 — Activ­i­ty ideas and shar­ing your farm­ing sto­ry
  Get some great ideas on how you can share your farm­ing sto­ry and engage vis­i­tors dur­ing your Open Farm Sun­day event. [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  • Tues­day 29^th April 2025 @ 2:00pm
    

• OFS 2025 — Health and safe­ty con­sid­er­a­tions for your event
  Join us for this lunchtime meet­ing look­ing at health and safe­ty to pro­tect the vis­i­tors on your farm as well as your helpers. [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  • Wednes­day 7^th May 2025 @ 1:00pm
    
    
• OFS 2025 — Last minute ques­tions and sup­port
  Join us for this lunchtime meet­ing to con­sid­er health and safe­ty aspects of your event, includ­ing hand­wash­ing top tips and doing an event risk assess­ment. [30 minute pre­sen­ta­tions + 15 minute Q&A]
  • Thurs­day 29^th May 2025 @ 2:00 pm
    

Can’t wait? If want to talk through your Open Farm Sun­day event today, get in touch — all con­tact details are here.

Share your support!

Encour­age your farm­ing con­tacts, friends and net­works to get involved and join in the OFS con­ver­sa­tions on social media:

• Twit­ter: @openfarmsunday #OFS25
• Face­book: @openfarmsunday
• Insta­gram: @openfarmsunday

Top tips from our OFS Ambas­sadors:

Rebec­ca Dawes — OFS Ambas­sador, Scotland 

“Nev­er be afraid to ask for help, it is such a reward­ing day for every­one involved. Your vet, local feed mer­chant, machin­ery deal­er, agron­o­mist or farm advi­sor could give a small talk about what they do and maybe bring a few props like ani­mal feed or wheat seed. A ​“Farmer Ques­tion Time” always goes down well at our event, where local farm­ers each vol­un­teer to do a 15-minute slot to answer questions.”

Anne Mair-Chap­man — OFS Ambas­sador, North East 

“Make your event fun, friend­ly and for­get the farm­ing jar­gon! After the year we’ve all had, your event needs to feel like a bit of light relief in the fresh air. An infor­mal intro­duc­tion as peo­ple arrive is some­times all it takes to get the ques­tions going — remem­ber your audi­ence and think of oth­er ways to describe the work you do, farm­ing terms are not always self-explanatory!”

Rona Amiss — OFS Ambas­sador, South West 

“Get lots of help from neigh­bours, friends and any­one else you can think of! It makes it much more fun and every­one enjoys themselves.”

Helen Chap­pell — OFS Ambas­sador, North West 

“This is the year to host! The pub­lic are want­i­ng to con­nect with farms and the envi­ron­ment — not just to learn about the farm­ing life but also for the health and well­be­ing ben­e­fits. The sup­port and guid­ance is eas­i­ly acces­si­ble and the ambas­sadors are here to help. The gen­er­al pub­lic are just as appre­hen­sive as the farm­ing com­mu­ni­ty, but they too are deter­mined to embrace the new nor­mal, Covid safe way of doing things.”

Andy Guy — OFS Ambas­sador, Midlands

“Plan ahead
The most suc­cess­ful events are those where the hosts have planned for every even­tu­al­i­ty. Think about car park­ing, helpers and vol­un­teers, health and safe­ty, activ­i­ties for kids and fam­i­lies, pro­mo­tion and what you can do if it rains. If its all sort­ed before the big day you will have a stress-free event.

On the day.
Brief your helpers in advance so every­one knows what they are doing and what your vis­i­tors can see and do. Once the first vis­i­tors start to arrive all you need to do is acti­vate your plan and enjoy the day! If you’ve planned well and have con­tin­gen­cies for things like weath­er it should all go smoothly.

After the event.
Thank your helpers, tidy up and crack open a beer/​cup of tea and relax. Share mem­o­ries of the day with your helpers, update your Face­book page with some pho­tos and start think­ing about the next one!”

If you would like to talk through your Open Farm Sun­day event ideas now, get in touch with a OFS ambas­sador today — you can find the OFS team’s con­tact details here.