Newark Scarefest 2023 a big hit with families at the castle as the Children’s Bereavement Centre hold another successful event

Newark Castle provided the perfect spooky backdrop to ScareFest 2023.

Organised by the Children's Bereavement Centre, Sunday’s event raised vital funds for the Newark-based charity while also giving families a chance to experience some Halloween-themed fun.

"It was a great day and we are lucky that the weather held out," said Simon Shaw, who is on the board of trustees for the charity.

"We had a great crowd who enjoyed the event.

"It is great to see the community out in force supporting the event.

"Everyone had a lot of fun."

Lots of people turned out in their Halloween costumes with pumpkin heads, ghosts, and witches being popular choices.

The event featured several attractions, amongst them was a trick-or-treat tent.

A long queue showed how popular the attraction was as families lined up to see what surprises were lurking behind the four dressed-up doors.

There was a creepy carnival which was also a big hit with crowds.

It featured an inflatable 23-foot high helter skelter inflatable attraction, a hoop toss game, a Halloween duck hooking event and a cursed can alley where people tried their luck to knock down as many monster-themed tins as they could.

There were also Halloween goodie bags provided which featured a large range of tweets for ScareFest participants.

There was something for everyone as those who wanted something a little less surprising got to pick a Hardy's Farndon pumpkin from the spooky garden trail.

They were then able to decorate it to display at home.

There was plenty of entertainment as well with face painting proving to be a popular choice.

Band New Dimension rocked the crowd and the Rock Choir had everyone gathered around listening intently.

Gizmo Labs put on a terrifyingly good science show that provided some whacky yet excellent entertainment.

Due to the recent flooding the duck race was postponed and will be run at a later date.