Here’s our pick of the best events coming in October across the destinations and attractions we work with. Most events require booking in advance. As ever, please check individual websites for the latest updates.
Pumpkin Picking top spots… In the run-up to Halloween, a host of pumpkin-themed attractions, along with pick your own patches, offer a fun family day out. Check out our round-up of the some of the best from our destinies here.
HULL
Hull Fair
7-15 October 2022 (except Sun)
Walton Street
One of Europe’s largest and oldest travelling funfairs, dating back to the 13th Century, Hull Fair returns to the city with its usual mix of fairground favourites, food stalls, children’s rides and thrilling sky-high attractions. A city car park will be transformed into a venue for around 300 rides and attractions for the Fair, which was first granted a charter in 1278.
Hulloween Steampunk Festival
28-30 October 2022
Various venues in Hull city centre
This ‘Hulloween’ enter the weird, wacky and wonderful world of Steampunk, inspired by Victorian fashions and engineering. Making its debut in the city centre, Hull will be transformed with a series of free and ticketed events. Among attractions will be Steampunk artwork and items on display, ghost walks, a Steampunk Market and a parade.
Cult Cinema Sunday: Halloween Mystery Movie
Social
30 October 2022
Admission: £5
Do you like to be surprised? Cult Cinema Sunday pick a classic Cult horror movie they love and screen it… the only catch is, that they don’t tell anyone in advance what it is. Come dressed as your favourite horror character, with a prize for the best dressed. Must be aged 18 years and over.
EAST YORKSHIRE
Gruesome Grounds and Haunted Hall
Burton Constable Hall
24 – 30 October 2022
Tickets from £2.50, check website for details
www.burtonconstable.com
Explore the Petrifying Pumpkin Trail, Creepy Crafts and Spooky Story Telling. With a Haunted Hall ticket visitors get access to all of the grounds’ activities, plus entry to the Haunted Hall with its Wicked Witch Hat Hunt and ghoulish Ghost Stories.
Evening Halloween Ghost Tours
31 October 2022
Tickets: £5.50, must be pre-booked
Join in the ghostly goings-on at the Hall. Dress for the occasion and join other guest, some who have not been invited, for a scary but fun evening.
All Hallows Feastival
Withernsea
22 October 2022
The East Riding Feastival tour is back, with a twist, as it returns for a weekend on the coast. On October’s spookiest Saturday, visit the Valley Gardens for creepy scares and spooktacular family fun. With live entertainment and music playing throughout the day, food, fun and fairground rides,
Halloween events
Burnby Hall Gardens, Pocklington
24 – 30 October 2022
Admission: check website for details
www.burnbyhallgardens.com
Throughout half term week there is a spooky Halloween Trail for children to follow.
Frightful Fairy Tales with Rusticus Arts
26 October
The Gardens are alive with fairy tale characters in this outdoor performance walk hosted by larger-than-life characters. Join the Witch-finders to discover why the witch wants vengeance, the troll is so grumpy, and why the big bad wolf isn’t so big and bad after all, whilst taking part in a whole host of fun interactive activities.
Rocky Horror House Party
Highfield House
Driffield
28 October 2022
Tickets: £39 per person
Join boutique hotel and venue Highfield House for a Halloween like no other, as the Tudor manor house, which dates to 1864, is transformed into Transylvania. A live band will be rocking until late and there will be a few surprises along the way. Guests will be greeted with a glass of prosecco as they step into Frankenstein Palace before dining from the Floating Hawker Horror menu.
DERBY
Oktoberfest Derby 2022
Bustler Market
8 October 2022
Tickets: from £16.50
www.oktoberfestderby.co.uk
The world-famous Oktoberfest arrives in Derby for the first time. The event boasts not only plenty of beer but also authentic oompah bands, plus a large selection of traditional German foods.
Gaia at Derby Cathedral
Until 16 October 2022
Entry is free with a suggested entry donation of £3 per person
https://derbycathedral.org
This stunning touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram features a giant three-dimensional, illuminated artwork of the Earth floating above the nave. As well as an out of this world view, the installation will also be the focus of a wide range of events.
A Night at the Museum Ghost Hunt
Derby Museum & Art Gallery
15 – 16 October 2022
Ticket: £38 per person, must be aged over 18 years
Fancy a ‘Night at The Museum’ for a ghost hunt like no other? Then Derby Museum and Art Gallery is the place to be. There are vast rooms to wander through – but whose spirits are associated with the artefacts here, such as the two ancient Egyptian mummies, which have been on display here since 1879.
Henry Moore: Threads of Influence
Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill
From 15 October 2022
Admission: £5 adults, Under 16s free
A touring exhibition from The Sainsbury Centre, spanning Henry Moore’s career, from early life drawings and carvings to iconic drawings and late prints. A range of related objects from the Sainsbury Centre Collection will illuminate Moore’s work.
History Makers Puppet Trail
Derby Museum & Art Gallery
15 – 30 October 2022
Cost: £1 Trail
This October half term the Museum will be putting the spotlight on some of the women who have made history. Some of them grew up in Derbyshire, while others came from afar to leave their mark. Explore the galleries and find them standing amongst the collections in puppet form. Trail Sheets available from the Museum Shop.
Halloween Festival
Bluebell Dairy
22 – 30 Oct 2022
Tickets from £5.97 per person
www.bluebelldfairy.co.uk
A pumpkin picking patch with tens of thousands of pumpkins, Halloween trail, and daily spooky shows, there’s something frightening for visitors to enjoy. There will be a Monster Mash Bash, fancy dress parade, Muddy Monster Trail and, of course, Halloween flavoured ice creams from this artisan maker.
Assemble: Derby’s Making Festival
Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill
22 October 2022
Admission: £4 adults, under 16 free
www.derbymuseums.org
A family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness. Discover the creations of makers, engineers, tinkerers, crafters, hobbyists and more, and have a go yourself with all sorts of fun, hands-on activities for makers of all ages.
Shine-A-Light: Lantern Sculpture Trail
25 October – 10 December 2022
Across the city centre and the Museum of Making
Free
Shining a light on Derby’s new artists and special places, 13 giant lantern sculptures are dotted around the city. Each lantern has been created by an emerging artist, inspired by its location, and capturing and reflecting the distinctive characteristics of that space. Follow the trail to see the lantern sculpture installed at the city’s Museum of Making.
LINCOLNSHIRE
Dog Friendly Days at Lincoln Castle
8 – 9 October 2022
Tickets apply for the Medieval Wall Walk, Victorian Prison and Magna Carta (£15 adults, £8.30 children 5-16 years, £38.30 family)
Unlock 1000 years of history, with your four-legged companion. Enjoy the castle surrounds as your dog follows you on a journey back through history exploring the Medieval Wall Walk, Victorian Prison and Magna Carta with a follow up visit to the Castle grounds for a takeaway treat for you and your pup with the new Puppaccino’s!
Lincoln Book Festival
13-15 October 2022
Various venues
Free, but tickets must be booked
Lincoln Book Festival returns with a long weekend of literary events celebrating great fiction and non-fiction, placing a particular focus on Lincolnshire writers. Lincoln Book Festival has history at its heart, celebrating the finest history writing and historical fiction in one of England’s great heritage cities.
Lincoln Sausage Festival
Lincoln Castle
15 October 2022
Admission: £2 adults, children free entry
After a two-year break, the popular Lincoln Sausage Festival is back! Celebrating the county’s most iconic export, the grounds of Lincoln Castle will be filled with around 50 stalls as visitors tuck into more than 30,000 individual sausages. With live entertainment from the Cosmic Sausages, Mr & Mrs Sausage and cookery demonstrations.
October Half Term at Lincoln Castle
22 – 30 October 2022
Included with Castle day ticket (£15 adults, £8.30 children (5-16 years), £38.30 family)
https://bit.ly/3EbUwNj
Explore the grounds, enjoy the views from the Medieval Wall Walk, discover the archaeology displays and visit the Magna Carta Vault. Enter the Victorian Prison and discover what life was like for those that were held there. Collect an activity sheet on the way in, solve the puzzle and see if you can escape from Lincoln Castle’s Prison!
Halloween Ghost Train
Lincolnshire Wolds Railway
30 October
Tickets: £9 adults, £5, children (4 – 12 years), £25 family
Hop on board the scariest train ride of the year travelling through the Lincolnshire Wolds this Halloween. Don your best Halloween costume and travel along the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway with the spirits of Ludborough on board. If you make it safely to North Thoresby, jump off and enjoy a spooky-themed platform dance to The Time Warp.
We’ve Found A Body
Mannikin
Near Grantham
28-29 October 2022
Tickets: £15
https://bit.ly/3RqXqkd
If you like weird and wacky then this is for you. Mannikin is a business supplying mannikins to the film and TV industries, but also offers an unusual visitor attraction. And for Halloween, be prepared for an unforgettable experience – a murder mystery in a Mannequin Graveyard. Kat Walker is the heir to a fortune, but her body has been found in the grounds of Mannikin Hall. Turn detective to discover who killed her in this three-hour experience.
BURGHLEY HOUSE
Spooky Tours
19 – 29 October (excluding Sunday 23)
Tickets: £24 per person, must be pre-booked
www.burghley.co.uk
Fiendish family fun comes to Burghley House and the Gardens in October, as torch lit tours return with more scary stories and haunting hidden history. Led by ghostly expert Martin Tempest they take visitors on a guided tour through creepy cellars and centuries-old cloisters, revealing ghostly goings-on. The tours are designed to be scary but fun, although not advised for under 12s.
The Burghley Halloween Trail
15 – 30 October 2022
Admission: trail leaflet included in house or garden tickets (gardens only £13.50 adult, £8 children
For fewer scares – and more daylight – head to the Sculpture Garden and tackle the Burghley Halloween Trail to find the hidden spooks and receive a treat. Youngsters can also magic up their own own creations at Children’s Halloween Craft Workshops (24–28 October), also included with a valid House or Gardens ticket.
Beastly Boring Tours
22 – 29 October 2022
Tickets: £13 per person, pre booking required
Join a costumed guide on a tour and discover the grizzly gruesome, horrible histories associated with Burghley and the people who lived there. Each child will receive a Beastly Boring guidebook full of fun facts and games.
STAFFORDSHIRE
Scarefest
Alton Towers Resort
7-9, 14-31 October 2022
Tickets: from £42, pre- booking required
www.altontowers.com
Celebrating 15 years of its award-winning Scarefest, prepare for spines to be tingled, from the frantically funny and seriously spooky themed attractions for all ages, including a brand-new scare attraction for the bravest of souls. Open until 9pm, daring guests can face head-spinning, hair-raising rides and attractions in the darkness including Wicker Man and the Alton Towers Dungeon.
Pick your own pumpkins
The Pumpkin Patch
Near Stafford
Every weekend from 1 October, daily 14 – 31 October 2022
www.lowerdraytonfarm.co.uk
There are pumpkins of all shapes and sizes to choose from, plus you can pick your own carrots, potatoes and sweetcorn too!
Screamfest
National Forest Adventure Farm
Weekends in October
Tickets: from £26.00 per person
www.screamfest.co.uk
Enjoy the thrills, screams and laughter of five immersive scare attractions, plus live extreme performers and music. See your nightmares become real in Insomnia, go speed dating with a sinister twist in Love Hurts and try to avoid the harvest in the maize field in Creed Farm. The clowns are back in Freakout On Tour and Hillbilly Joe’s Zombee Zoo is open to visitors. Recover from the frights with food and drinks and take a spin on the fairground rides (additional costs apply).
Halloween Spook-tacular
National Forest Adventure Farm
15, 16, 22 – 30 October 2022
Tickets £12.99 – £15.99, under two free
www.adventurefarm.co.uk/event/halloween/
All the fun of the National Forest Adventure Farm plus a day packed with hair-raising Halloween activities. Pick a pumpkin from the patch (1 per child) and take the Magical Maze Quest where you’ll cast spells, make potions and fly a broomstick. Also on offer will be the Marvellous Magic Show, a circus skills workshop and Frightening Face Paint. All activities, including the indoor soft play, outdoor adventure play and animal barn and paddocks, are included in the ticket price with just the fairground rides as an optional extra.
Statfold’s Halloween Spooktacular
Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum, near Tamworth
24 – 30 October 2022
Tickets: from £14
Set within 1,000 acres of countryside, this narrow-gauge steam railway and museum is throwing a Halloween party, with more ghosties and ghoulies than ever, from a Haunted Railway to live shows. Plus, on 28, 29 and 30 October there’s a Firework Spooktacular. Visitors can join the Ghost Host for a spooky train trip from Oak Tree Halt Platform, while new for 2022, venture into the Haunted Woods or watch the Monster Mash show.
Halloween at Drayton
Drayton Manor Resort
22 – 30 October 2022
Various prices, check website for details
Experience the park during the daytime, with pumpkins and hay bales a plenty, at the Pumpkin Smash Bash! Visit the Castle of Spooks – included in the ticket price – for a trick or treat experience, with spooky characters and activities along the way. Or visit for Night at the Manor. As part of this ultimate scare experience, creep around the Castle of Screams – in the dark – ride the Haunted Express, or Hunt for Zebidiah in a night-time walk. And ending Halloween at Drayton with a bang, see a Fireworks Spooktacular display, with Halloween-themed fireworks and soundtrack, on 30 October.
STOKE-ON-TRENT
Majolica Mania: Transatlantic Pottery in England and the United States, 1850–1915
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
8 October – 29 January 2023
Tickets: £5 adults, children under 16 free entry
https://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/pmag/
Britain’s spiritual home of ceramics hosts an important exhibition of some of the finest pieces of Victorian majolica pottery ever made in the UK and the US. After a debut at New York City’s Bard Graduate Center, and then Baltimore, the exhibition is in the UK. Fittingly, the only place where it can be seen is in Stoke-on-Trent, dubbed the world capital of ceramics and the only city in Britain to be named after its primary industry, “The Potteries”.
Throw A Pot Session
Valentine Clays
Saturdays in October
Ticket: from £35 per person
https://bit.ly/3ycbwiC
Learn how to throw your very first pot with experienced master potter Jon French. Choose up to two pots that will be fired and glazed (each person) and any additional pots can be fired at the cost of £10 per pot
Halloween Fun
Trentham Estate
14 – 31 October 2022
Tickets: £18.50 adult, £6 child (2-5), £15 child (6-15), £49.95 family
www.trentham.co.uk
Halloween has descended on Trentham Hall with lots of family fun. The mischievous fairies have cast their enchantments to make pumpkins appear on the brand-new pumpkin patch, nestled in the heart of the Italian Gardens. Visitors can also have a go at making magical wands and broomsticks or visit the pumpkin colouring and design studio. Spot the scarecrows dotted around and enter the fancy dress competition.
Gandeys Circus
Trentham Shopping Village
14-30 October 2022
Tickets from £9.99 per person
A very special (trick or) treat for Halloween, Gandeys Circus returns with a brand-new action-packed legendary Halloween Spooktacular Big Top show for all the family. A specially selected international cast of skeletons, vampires, Jack O’lanterns and Circus Artistes, have been brought together for this year’s sensational extravaganza.
Halloween Pumpkin Quiz Trail
Trentham Monkey Forest
3 – 30 October 2022
The trail sheet is included in admission (£11 adult, £8.50 child 3-14)
https://bit.ly/3SOQRJl
Here’s a frightening fact – there are less than 8,000 wild Barbary macaques in the wild. So this year for Halloween, Monkey Forest has designed a Pumpkin Trail Quiz which they hope will raise awareness around the scary plight of the wild Barbary macaque and keep little ones entertained. The Halloween Pumpkin Trail Quiz offers a chance for your cheeky monkeys to win a cuddly treat – if they manage to avoid the little tricks along the way. Find every pumpkin by following the clues and complete the quiz sheet before filling out the final special word.
HAMPSHIRE
Science Starz
Winchester Science Centre
Until 13 November 2022
Admission: from £13.63 per person
https://bit.ly/3ebnBO9
In 2022 Winchester Science Centre is celebrating 20 years of wow moments, and the last stop is sound. Grab your exclusive ticket to join the live studio audience of Science Starz – and be wowed by the ultimate science musical instrument, the mind-blowing, light-bending laser harp.
Happy Halloween at Paultons Park
13 – 31 October 2022
Tickets: from £39.75
www.paultonspark.co.uk
Paultons proudly boasts of offering the UK’s friendliest, most frightful family Halloween event. Back for another year with even more spooky fun to be had, here’s your chance to see Peppa Pig World transformed for this year’s enchanting festivities! Meet Peppa and George in their spooky outfits and enjoy lots of fun Peppa themed Halloween decorations. Due to popular demand the spook-tacular show, The Legend of Paultons Manor, returns, following the adventures of Pickles the Pumpkin and the Spirit Squad. Plus, there are rides in the dark with late night opening until 7.30pm on 25, 26 & 27 October 2022.
Spooky Halloween River Tour
New Forest Activities
Beaulieu
22 – 31 October 2022
Tickets: £34 adults, £22 children (18 months – 16) must be booked in advance
www.newforestactivities.co.uk
With so much history and stories of resident ghosts, are you brave enough to venture out onto the Beaulieu River at dusk? Head out in illuminated canoes onto the estuary at nightfall on this 90 minute, canoeing tour. Paddle the Beaulieu River’s dark waters by moonlight, stopping along the way to hear ghoulish ghost stories from your night-time guide. Hot chocolate and Halloween candy will be available for everyone taking part. Fancy dress is not essential but encouraged.
Halloween Archery Pumpkin Shooting
Various dates in Oct 2022
Tickets: £27 adults, £15 children (8 – 16), must be booked in advance
There is a spooky twist on archery sessions for October, with ghosts, ghouls, zombies and werewolves acting as your new targets. Then it’s onto the pumpkin shooting round where your little monsters will get to decorate their pumpkins before watching them go ‘splat’ as they practice their newfound shooting skills. This one’s smashing good fun!
Canoe Halloween Treasure Hunt
22 – 30 October 2022
Tickets: £34 adults, £22 children (18 months – 16), must be booked in advance
Join in for some fiendish fun on the water this October Half Term. Treat (not trick) your little swashbucklers to some scarily good fun on the Beaulieu River. Navigate the high tides as you head out in stable Canadian canoes on the hunt for devilishly delicious Halloween treasure along the riverside.
Wizard Week
The Watercress Line
24 – 30 Oct 2022
Tickets: from £24 adults, £12 children, £60 family (2+2), must book in advance
www.watercressline.co.uk
Spine-tingling treats are in store – including rides on the Wizard Express steam train and the thrill of walking in Harry Potter’s footsteps over the famous railway footbridge where Harry received his Hogwarts Express ticket in the film. Visitors can ride the steam trains throughout the day and hop on and off as they wish to explore the four heritage stations. Stock up on some weird and wonderful sweet treats at Ropley Station, take part in flying lessons and be spooked by some creepy creatures.
Gothic Season 2022
Chawton House
Chawton
10-30 October 2022
Tickets: £5-£50 per person, check website for details
Visit the Library Display: Fearful Futures, which explores the omens and premonitions that terrified 18th and 19th century readers of Gothic fiction, tuck into a Gothic Supper & Ghostly Tales (14, 21 and 28), or take a Gothic Tour of the House (17), while throughout October half term families can explore the Gothic Garden Trail and new ‘Spooky Trail’ (included in admission price). For a moonlit walk, join one of the guides on a tour of the grounds and discover more about Chawton House’s eerie family history (19 and 26). And on the scariest night of the year (31), brave a special Halloween guided tour of the House after dark. Explore secret passages and unlock forbidden chests to discover ancient manuscripts and the remnants of brutal crimes.
Fright Night
Funland, Hayling Island
22, 26 and 29 October 2022
Tickets: £15 per person
https://bit.ly/3UZAQT1
This Halloween, Funland amusement park has doubled up on gore! Three nights of mischievous merriment include a pumpkin patch for the little ones to carve a face or two, all the fear of the fair where the clowns entertain visitors, plus an old asylum where the spirits roam at night waiting in the shadows to give you a fright. The ticket price includes access to the park, an unlimited ride wristband and entry to all mazes. The night ends with a firework display.
Halloween Half Term Fun
Sky Park Farm
22 – 30 October 2022
Admission: £6.50 adult, £3.50 children, under threes free
https://www.skyparkfarm.com
Along with the grand opening of the Tree Top Towers, a new extension to the Adventure Playground, on 24 October, this family-friendly deer park attraction is offering a host of spooky events to celebrate Halloween. Join Monster School for an hour of spooky fun, including potion making, scaring lesson and monster mask making (£10 per child, pre book to guarantee a place). Or see the Spooky Creature Teacher (free for those who book tickets before 23 October, or £1 per child on the day), And daily during half term, go on a Monster Hunt to find all the monsters hiding along the Farm Trail.
Back to the 80s
Mary Rose Museum
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
22 – 30 October 2022
Included with a valid ticket (from £24 adult, £19 child, 3-15 years)
https://bit.ly/3Sxotfe
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the raising of the Mary Rose by taking a step back in time to the 1980s. The raising of Henry VIII’s flagship wasn’t just an archaeological phenomenon, it was a major event in the early days of the 1980s, with millions of people around the world tuning in to watch the ship emerge from the seabed live. Discover the pop culture of the 1980s with a retro-themed area, containing a video game arcade featuring 80s classics such as Pac-Man, Asteroids, Gauntlet, Galaga and more, courtesy of Game Over, as well as music and photo opportunities from that era.
