Next year will be the 20th anniversary of the popular countryside event
LEAF has developed a comprehensive support package for all host Open Farm Sunday farmers as it celebrates the event’s 20th anniversary.
New for 2026 is a series of sector-specific webinars featuring experienced Open Farm Sunday hosts, as well as members of the LEAF team, providing insights and top tips to encourage others to get involved and open their farms to their local community.
Farmers are invited to register to join the webinars live and get their questions answered, with the fruit and vegetable-specific session running on 5 February from 12-1pm. A further session on health, safety and insurance is on 24 February, also at 12-1pm.
LEAF is also organising two in-person training days for potential and seasoned hosts to take a deeper dive into logistics and explore creative activities to engage visitors on the day. They are delivered by the Open Farm Sunday team, LEAF education specialists and experienced host farmers.
The first training day in Lancashire on Wednesday 18 March takes place at Huntapac Produce near Preston. The second is in East Sussex on Tuesday 24 March at Strawberry Hill Farm. Both in-person events are free to attend, running from 10.30am to 3.30pm.
Open Farm Sunday manager Annabel Shackleton said: “Our new webinars and training days are a fabulous addition to the core support available to all Open Farm Sunday host farmers including the 2026 Host Farmer Handbook, free resources to promote events and use on the day, and the OFS team who are available to talk through events, answer questions and help all our wonderful host farmers along their OFS journey.
“By working together, we want to highlight Open Farm Sunday as a unique chance to connect local communities, celebrate sustainable farming and build trust and pride in our industry.”
Open Farm Sunday will take place on 7 June 2026, marking two decades of the event that connects people with farming and helping them value sustainably produced food.
LEAF has called on farmers across all sectors – arable, livestock, horticulture, dairy, mixed and specialist enterprises – to be part of the 20th anniversary celebrations and welcome visitors to their farm next June.
