Oxfordshire’s Fairytale Farm named fastest growing farm attraction in England

By | November 16, 2020

Fairytale Farm has been named as England’s fastest-growing farm attraction, according to the Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions, just published by Visit England.

The results from this survey are reported annually, providing an overview of the visitor attraction sector. The newly-published figures, which are for the full 2019 season, show that Fairytale Farm’s visitors grew by 56% between 2018 and 2019, to 37,825.

Fairytale Farm owner, Nick Laister, who last week was made an honorary member of the Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, says: “2019 seems such a long time ago now, but this is a fantastic result and is all thanks to the amazing team of people who run our unique farm. We started from small beginnings when we were opened by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, in 2013, with only just over 11,000 visitors. Since then we have steadily grown, as we have added new attractions, such as our Snow White Garden, our dancing water fountains, our seasonal events and lots of new animals to meet.”

Fairytale Farm was the first mainstream visitor attraction to be designed around the needs of children with special needs, but accessible to all.

Nick adds: “2020 has been a very difficult year for us, as I know it has been for all seasonal attractions. We have had to rely on a GoFundMe campaign to feed our animals through the two lockdowns as we have had to temporarily close, but we have got through thanks to the flexibility and support of our team and the many people who donated. We are currently using the lockdown to prepare for what will be our most magical Christmas Fairytale experience yet when we reopen in December. And we are pledging that we will refund tickets in full if we can’t open for the festivities.”

The Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions is an official statistic and is produced in adherence with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (2009).

Fairytale Farm is planning to reopen on 3rd December and the Christmas Fairytale event starts on 5th December.