Don-O-Ray farms in Kelowna offering fall fun for whole family

With Halloween just around the corner, Castanet visited Kelowna's Don-O-Ray Farms to find out how to pick the perfect pumpkin.

According to the owner, Jas Sanghera, you should start with an appealing shape.

“I like the really round pumpkins. They have a great look to them, and you can do different kinds of carving with them, too. You also want to make sure your pumpkin isn’t rotting from the inside, and you want a very sturdy stem. Make sure that it's nice and orange, and you’re good to go,” said Sanghera.

Don-O-Ray farms have a wide variety of pumpkins for sale next to their market, but is also offering a full fall family experience. The farm's petting zoo has also been popular this fall, according to petting zoo manager Mark Peterson.

“You can actually go right into the animal pen with them, you can pet them, brush them, and there's food supply for free so you can feed the animals. The main goal here is, I want this to be a place where people can really experience animals. It's good to start kids off young with animals, so they get used to dealing with them,” said Peterson.

Another way to get the family feeling festive this Halloween is by checking out the haunted maze, and as Peterson tells Castanet, the maze has received some spooky upgrades.

“For the month of October specifically, we added a lot of new segments to the maze. So a lot of these are Halloween-based scares, and fun little things to interact with,” said Peterson, explaining the maze isn’t overly scary and is more focused on giving a fun experience.

Many locals who shop at the family business know Don-O-Ray farms is a one-stop shop. Jas Sanghera explains why.

“We have a full family experience here, right? So the kids can go to our petting zoo and enjoy our haunted maze, while parents enjoy some fresh bread or some ice cream, so it's a one stop shop for everyone."

The family is also busy setting up a ‘ghost town,’ which allows visitors to walk through a variety of buildings, designed to offer a little scare, if you dare. The new exhibit is said to be open this fall, and fully finished in time for next fall.

If you’d like to check out some of the families fresh local foods, petting zoo, and much more, you can find them at 3443 Benvoulin Road, or online by clicking here.