ICE AND A SLICE

VISITORS to the North East’s scariest event will be able to steady their nerves with a drop of the strong stuff, after it unveiled its own alcoholic tipple.

The fully immersive and interactive scare experience, Psycho Path, will return to Lintz Hall Farm, at Burnopfield, from 11 to 31 October – complete with killer clowns and chainsaw-wielding zombies.

Set to be even bigger and better than last year’s sold-out event, it will boast a range of new features – including its own Psycho Path gin liqueur.

Organiser, 700 Acres Ltd, has joined forces with Sunderland-based Poetic License Distillery to create a suitably blood red gin liqueur, which will be sold at the site’s bars and merchandise shop.

The limited edition liqueur, which can be served with tonic water or added to prosecco to create a spritzer, is flavoured with raspberries and citrus along with botanicals such as juniper, coriander seed and pink peppercorns.

And they hope it will give Dutch courage to event-goers as they navigate through the various elements of Psycho Path 2019.

This year the park’s main attraction, the Psycho Path trail, returns with a new route. Event goers are transported through dense woodland in blacked out vans and left in an area of secluded farmland which is home to abandoned buildings and terrifying characters.

From there, they head through Psycho City, a post-apocalyptic environment with makeshift structures, burning barrels and the last surviving inhabitants lurking in the shadows.

For those in need of light relief, also new this year is Anarchy Arcade, which will offer a range of entertainment every night, such as aerial artists, magicians, fire breathers and fairground rides.

It will also house street food and drink vendors, where visitors will be able to buy a glass of the Psycho Path gin – or snap up a bottle.

Although the current production run has been limited to 500 bottles, Nigel Holliday, of 700 Acres Ltd, said he hopes it will prove so popular that it will become a permanent fixture at the site.

“This collaboration with Poetic License has been a genuine pleasure,” he said. “They are a great team to work with and they just grasped immediately what we were looking for.

“Considerable expertise has gone into creating this gin. It looks great but, more importantly, it tastes fantastic and I think it’s going to be a big hit with our visitors.”

This was echoed by Joanne Durham, marketing manager at Poetic License, who said: “It has been a great collaboration with Nigel from the beginning and really got our distillers’ creative juices flowing.

“The Psycho Path brand lends itself naturally to our ethos of being wild spirits,” she added. “Poetic License Distillery enjoys working with like minded, creative brands to bring to market something that is truly unique, exciting and different but more importantly, a great tasting gin liqueur that will enhance the consumer experience.”

Psycho Path gin is available at the event’s merchandise shop or at www.poeticlicensedistillery.co.uk at a cost of £19.95 per 50cl bottle.

Tickets for Psycho Path start at £25 and those aged 13 to 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information or to buy tickets for the event, visit www.psycho-path.co.uk.