As one of the best free things to do in Zurich, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has lived in the Swiss metropolis for a long time and not attended the Jucker Farm Pumpkin Festival at least once. However, visitors to the farm above Lake Pfäffikon will soon have to pay the price of the event's success: due to public pressure, the farm will be charging an entry fee for the first time.
Speaking to 20 Minuten, Jucker Farm (Juckerhof) owner Martin Jucker admitted that while the pumpkin exhibition continues to be a hit, “The crowds on peak days have become unacceptable for us and the village of Seegräben.” As a result, the farm will start charging an entrance fee to the festival during peak times.
He said that while there has been resistance towards adding an entrance fee, the sheer number of families and individuals visiting the farm has left them with no choice. “The infrastructure around the farm and the town on Lake Pfäffikersee simply cannot accommodate the influx of visitors,” he noted.
Jucker said that the farm is currently trying to figure out how to price the event, or indeed how it would be able to charge a fee. The farmstead is open and allows anyone to wander in and out, making it harder to figure out visitor numbers and what an appropriate price would be. However, the fees will likely be implemented from the next pumpkin festival in August 2024.
In response, the residents of Seegräben said that while they approved of the idea, one resident told 20 Minuten that it “does not fundamentally address the problem” as high visitor numbers to the Jucker Farm are a year-round problem, not just during the festival. “In order to really reduce the number of visitors, the Jucker Farm would have to charge exorbitant prices. Everything else hardly deters visitors,” another argued.
As a result, members of the community called for a “fundamental discussion about how to deal with visitor traffic."
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