A SEA of giant orange pumpkins and scarecrows filled the grounds of a Hampshire park this weekend for the 21st year in a row.

Hundreds of face-painted children and their families flocked to the Autumn Pumpkin Festival and Scarecrow Avenue in Netley Abbey for one of the biggest events in the village calendar.

And not just scarecrow-makers and pumpkin enthusiasts attended the event, which is run by Jubilee Sailing Trust, but furry friends were part of the fun too, including a pink and orange dog who dressed up for the autumnal occasion.

READ: Remember the Jubilee Sailing Trust's pumpkin festival? >>>

Organiser Sonja Davison said the event has been a growing success since its inception in the late 1990s.

Ms Davison said: “The weather hasn’t dampened the spirits of families here.

"There are numerous pumpkins and we are weighing them all. It’s a spectacular sight.

"Me and my husband have been running this festival for 21 years and it’s as big as it can get now, and the pumpkins are also as big as they can get. It’s grown every year.

“The pumpkins and scarecrows like the rain so it doesn’t stop us.”

Visitors entering the Royal Victoria Country Park venue could enter a pumpkin competition in an attempt for their orange vegetable to weigh the heaviest, with some of them on the day weighing at least 100kg.

Multiple scarecrows were also seen hanging in a row at the festival, while live bands entertained the guests all day.

Crafts and gifts stalls had set up camp on the field, with one of them educating residents in Hampshire on how to prevent their pumpkins from being thrown away as waste.

Waste prevention manager for Hampshire County Council, Zoe Clegg, said: “We are offering free compost bins for Hampshire residents as well as tips and tools on how to reduce how much food people throw away.

"A lot of people get pumpkins for Halloween at this time of year and they don’t know what to do with them after. We have recipes for pumpkins and show how they can be broken down and disposed.”