Edinburgh Zoo's spooktacular offer for Hallowe'en

GRAB a pumpkin, get carving and you could save money at the Zoo.

Carve a creepy-crawly pumpkin for Edinburgh Zoo's family promotion.

Edinburgh Zoo is challenging families across the city to celebrate Hallowe’en by carving creepy-crawly pumpkins as part of a spooktacular family promotion.

From scuttling spiders to slithering snails and swarms of cockroaches, families who bring animal themed carved pumpkins to the Zoo will get a free child ticket (15 years and under) with every full paying adult from this Friday to Monday.

A selection of the best pumpkin designs brought in by visitors will be displayed in the Zoo entrance until Hallowe’en when all pumpkins received will be composted and used by the Zoo Gardens’ team to help fertilise plants in the park.

The pumpkin challenge coincides with the Zoo being invaded by Scotland’s most skin-crawling collection of insects until Sunday.

Visitors can explore the limited-edition Creepy Crawlies Exhibition featuring giant millipedes, crickets, beetles, stick insects, spiders, cockroaches, giant snails, spiders and a host of other weird and wonderful bugs.

The interactive exhibition will run daily from 11am to 3pm in the Budongo Trail Lecture Theatre, with insect handling sessions throughout the day for brave youngsters.

For grown-ups who aren’t keen on eight-legged friends, the Zoo will host a Spiders: Fight Your Phobia workshop with top clinical hypnotherapist Morag Torrance on Sunday 5 November.

In the afternoon workshop, attendees will face their fears through hypnosis and the chance to meet the Zoo’s most friendly spiders.

The Hallowe’en creepy-crawly pumpkin offer is not available online and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. No entry after 4pm. Pumpkins will be retained by the Zoo.