This holiday families can enjoy Easter on the farm and get to meet the new baby animals being born - as well as have some 'eggs-cellent' fun.

Smithills Open Farm is set to be one of the biggest attractions this Easter, with plenty of activities taking place as well as experiencing the countryside on your doorstep.

And already people have been flocking to the farm.

Carl Grimshaw, owner of Smithills Open Farm said Sunday, March 24, might have been one of the farm's busiest days and they are looking forward to welcoming more people.

He said: “It has been crazy here recently, the weekend just gone sort of kickstarted our season, we have had a few nice weekends and a few busy weekends, but Sunday March 24, the weather was lovely, it was nice and sunny, and it actually felt like Spring.

“I think Sunday could well have been one of the busiest days we have had on the farm.”

The annual Easter egg hunt returns this weekend.

He said: “There is lots going on at Smithills Open Farm over Easter, we have baby animals being born here including baby lambs and alpacas and goats, but as well as that we have our special Easter events.

The Bolton News: Adorable meerkatsAdorable meerkats (Image: NQ)“We will be doing Easter egg hunts on the farm from Good Friday to Easter Monday, we will be doing six Easter egg hunts a day and we do advertise them as the biggest and the best around.

“We have an organised session now in the nearby woods where we hide rubber eggs and then the children can exchange those for chocolate ones, we have the staff dressed up as Easter bunnies and chickens and they all have a great time out there finding the eggs.

“There is all sorts going on, all of our regular farm activities like the donkey rides and the tractor rides, milking the cows, there are more than 1,000 animals for people to see here, so there is something for everybody.

“We have got lots undercover so if the weather is bad, people can still come and have a great day and see the animals undercover as well as outside.”

@theboltonnews So much fun is to be had at Bolton’s Smithills Farm! 🐮🐷 #smithillsfarm #easter #theboltonnews ♬ My Coffee - Megan Yagami

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Carl said the farm is home to hundreds of animals as well as their new baby animals born in recent weeks and months.

He said: “People can expect to see a big variety of different animals everything from your traditional farm animals, sheep, cows, goats, horses, donkeys and llamas, right through to our more exotic animals in our zoo section which are meerkats, skunks, lemurs, they are a massive attraction for people, and we also have a brand new reptile section as well.

“We have got all sorts of baby animals here in Pets Corner too, so we have seven different breeds of sheep.

"There are lots of lambs being born, we have had about ten baby goats born, we have four baby alpacas that were born recently too.

“And hopefully coming in the first or second week of April we will have some baby Emu’s due to hatch, we have got one of the Emu’s sat on eggs at the moment, I think he is sat on 14 eggs, so hopefully we will have some baby Emu’s come sometime in the Easter holidays.”

The Bolton News: There are hundreds of cows to seeThere are hundreds of cows to see (Image: NQ)Carl said he advises people to book in advance to avoid disappointment due to it being so busy.

He said: “With it being so busy at the farm at the moment, we are encouraging people to book their tickets online because we do have a capacity and sometimes we do get full so we might end up turning people away.

“So, we do encourage people to book tickets online at the moment.”

Tickets are priced at £12 for adults and £10 for children and family tickets are also available.

To book in advance or to find out more information, go to: https://www.smithillsopenfarm.co.uk/.

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on X @chloewjourno.