Open Farm Sunday in Kent

Open Farm Sunday In Kent 2025
Experience Life on the Land: Open Farm Sunday Returns to Kent

Mark your calendars for Sunday, June 8th, 2025, as Kent’s vibrant farming community opens its gates for the annual Open Farm Sunday! This is your chance to step onto a real working farm right here in Kent, meet the animals, witness sheep shearing, and get hands-on with farming crafts. Imagine immersing yourself in the sights, sounds, and smells of a working farm. Connect directly with the land, understand where your food comes from, and foster a profound appreciation for our vital countryside.
By Julia Roy

DISCOVER KENT’S FARMS
Open Farm Sun­day is man­aged by the charity Link­ing Envi­ron­ment And Farm­ing (LEAF). Since the first Open Farm Sun­day in 2006, over 2,000 farm­ers across Britain have opened their gates and wel­comed over 3.25 mil­lion peo­ple onto farms for farm­ing’s annu­al open day. Visitors can dis­cov­er at first hand what it means to be a farmer, learn about the work they do pro­duc­ing food, nur­tur­ing animals, and all the goods and ser­vices farm­ers provide. Each farm offers different experiences, but all offer the chance to find out about farming, and there’s something for all ages.

 WELLBEING
Beyond the fun activities, Open Farm Sunday offers a unique chance to reap the proven well-being benefits of nature exposure, including reduced stress and improved mood, as highlighted by leading psychological research. Exposure to nature has been linked to a number of benefits, including improved attention, lower stress levels, better moods, and more. Various studies show improvements in attention spans for all ages and positivity in mental health, according to the Nurtured by Nature feature on the American Psychological Association’s website. Interesting fact: Studies show it is not only green spaces that are good for us, but according to Mathew White, PhD, an environmental psychologist at the University of Exeter in England, he has studied a variety of marine and freshwater environments and found these blue spaces are also good for well-being (link )

NEW TRENDS
Kent farmers are at the forefront of this trend, with many extending their hospitality beyond Open Farm Sunday. Look out for seasonal events like vibrant lambing experiences in spring, festive pumpkin patches in autumn, or even ‘pick-your-own’ Christmas tree events later in the year, offering diverse ways to engage with local agriculture.

Whether it’s a small farm walk for 30 or an open day for 300, both have a mas­sive, mean­ing­ful impact.

FARMING CAMPAIGNS
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) represents more than 44,000 farming and growing businesses and is campaigning to improve the quality of food education in schools and to undertake an urgent review of the UK’s GCSE Biology subject content relating to farming and food security. The NFU believes that children learning how to identify healthy, locally sourced food, grown and reared to some of the highest environmental and animal welfare standards in the world, will develop an appreciation for quality ingredients.

BRITISH FARMING NEWS & FACTS
Research* shows that LEAF’s Open Farm Sunday reaps rewards in the public’s perception and trust in farming
Boosted Trust: With 85% of vis­i­tors having more trust in British farm­ing, hav­ing vis­it­ed a farm.
Increased Knowledge: The research also showed that 79% learned some­thing new about farm­ing and food production.
Climate Action: 72% of vis­i­tors told us they feel the indus­try is doing some­thing to help com­bat cli­mate change. Not only that,
Career Inspiration: Nearly half (49%) considered a career in the agri-food sector.
Sustainability & Appreciation:  98% have a better understanding of what ​‘sus­tain­ably pro­duced’ food means, with 96% saying they have a greater appre­ci­a­tion for, and are more con­nect­ed to farming.

READY TO  PLAN YOUR DAY?
Here’s the comprehensive list of participating Kent farms, including opening times, specific activities, any pricing details, and accessibility information:

Park Farm
Location: Brasted Road, Brasted, Kent, TN16 1LL.
Time: 11am-4pm
Price: £7.50, under 3 years: Free
Accessibility: Partially accessible to wheelchairs
Essential Advice: No dogs
At this dairy and arable farm, see static machinery display on show, with tractor and trailer rides around the fields available. Learn about the science of farming and their recent move to only pedigree Jersey cows for a more natural way of keeping a herd. You can meet the cows and find out about their life, the food they eat, the exercise they need, as well as learn about milking and carving. You can also meet the farmer and ask what it takes to be a farmer and lots more! There will also be food and drinks on offer. Enjoy tractor and trailer rides, bale rolling, tug of war or welly throwing and even try a tethered trip in a hot air balloon – weather permitting!

Brockhill Farm
Location: Brockhill Park Performing Arts College, Sandling Road, Saltwood, Hythe, Kent CT21 4HL
Learn more about the school farm, which serves the school curriculum of the college. Meet the animals on the farm, including cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and goats. They also have new donkeys who have joined us to provide support to the students. There will be a pets corner with rabbits and guinea pigs, and you can take part in wool crafts, and try spinning, weaving and pom pom making with real wool from their flock. There will be traditional children’s games too run ut their Young Farmers.
Time: 1pm-4pm
Price: FREE
Accessibility: Partially accessible by wheelchair

Frogholt Farm
Location: Brockhill Park Performing Arts College, Beachborough Road, Folkestone, Kent CT18 8BW
Time: 10am-3pm
Price: Adult: £5, Child – up to 12 years: £2, under 3 years: Free
Meet their Romney ewes with lambs to the rare native breed Toggenburg goats with kids, pigs, Dexter cattle and alpacas. There will be a sheep shearing demonstration and local craft, food and drink stalls available. There is also static machinery on display, and self-guided walks to enjoy.

Chandler and Dunn Ltd
Location: The Farm Office, Lower Goldstone, Ash, Kent, CT3 2DY.
Time: 10am-2pm – no booking required
Price: FREE
Enjoy a visit to the family-run farm that began in 1809, which is a mixed farm consisting of arable, livestock and fruit. They offer self-guided orchard walks, tractor and trailer rides, static machinery displays, and refreshments with the butchers’ shop open during the event.

Solley’s Ice Cream
Location: The Dairy Church Lane Ripple nr Deal, Kent, CT14 8JL
Price: FREE 
Time: 10am-4pm
Factory Tours: 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm – book on arrival as limited places
Tractor Rides: 11am-3pm. Price: £3, under 3 years: Free
Accessibility: Partially accessible to wheelchairs
Good To Know: Enjoy live music from Deep River Blues, 4pm–6pm at The Pub at Solley’s
Learn more about this 383-acre family arable farm, which is also home to South East’s largest independent ice cream producer. Enjoy a guided factory tour of their custom-built ice cream factory and find out more about how our ice cream is made. You can also enjoy tractor rides, see static machinery, enjoy food and drink, and take a self-guided walk.

Tree of Life Veganics
Location: Tree of Life Farm, Shepherd’s Hill, Selling, Faversham. Kent. ME139RS, Kent, ME139RS
Price: Free
Time: 1pm-4pm, tour at 1.30pm
Booking: Need to book as limited places
Accessibility: Partially accessible to wheelchairs.
Essential Advice: No animal products to be taken onto the site.
Take a guided tour of this farm, which is currently being created into a veganic, forest farm, using no-dig/till, sustainable farming principles with largely vegan permaculture. Vegan refreshments will be available to buy. Donations towards building an accessible compost loo would be very welcome.

Seal Community School Farm
Location: Seal Chruch of E Primary School, Zambra Way, Seal, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0DJ
Time: 12Noon-3pm
Price: £2, under 3 years: Free
Accessibility: Partially accessible to wheelchairs
Small community school farm based on a primary school site, with friendly animals to stroke and hand feed. They have rare breed pigs, pygmy goats, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, bees, micro pigs, tortoises and rabbits. Enjoy a self-guided tour, meet the animals and learn about them at this not-for-profit farm.

Nearby
The Woodlands Farm Trust
331 Shooters Hill, Bexley, DA16 3RP
Time: 11am-4pm
Price: Free entry
Activities: Hosted farm tours/tractor and train rides/Farm shop and fresh produce/meet the animals/food/static machinery display
Accessibility: Partially accessible to wheelchairs
Discover this 89-acre charity farm near Kent, with sheep, cattle, pigs, chickens, ducks and woodland and hay meadows. Enjoy tractor and trailer rides (for a fee) as well as guided farm walks, children’s activities and a chance to meet the animals. There will be food and drink available with a pop-up café. The farm is run as a conservation and education project where you can learn about farming life and farm animals.  You can see native bird species, butterflies, wild flowers and ancient woodlands. 

Farms Further Afield
If you’re exploring beyond Kent, find a full list of UK farms participating in Open Farm Sunday on the LEAF website. The event welcomes over 180,000 people to 241 events.

* LEAF’s 2022 research.

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to connect with the heart of British farming and celebrate the dedication of local Kent farmers. 

Picture Credit: Main Image – Park Farm 

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We do our best to endeavour to be as accurate and comprehensive as possible from the information we have at the time of publication.  We are not liable for any changes that a company or event makes at the last minute, whether time changes or price amendments.

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