1. Pick your own pumpkins
It’s that time of the year. That’s right, pumpkin season is here. Whether you associate it with Halloween or not, Pumpkin picking, a somewhat American concept, has taken off in the UK, with patches and pick-your-own farms springing up all over the place. Here are our favourite places to go to make the most of pumpkin season in 2022.
2. Explore science and creative activities for everyone
IF Oxford science and ideas Festival brings together hundreds of researchers with thousands of people in a festival every year – with science, ideas and creative activities for everyone to explore. There’s something for everyone, with activities for young children and families and sessions for teenagers and adults to enjoy alone or as a group in venues across Oxford.
3. Roll up, roll up to the circus
Roll up, roll up! John Lawson’s Circus is back at Millets Farm Centre this October Half Term with a thrilling, fun family show featuring all-new and popular acts especially for you! The circus is located next to the maze field at Millets Farm Centre and each performance lasts approximately 1 hour, with shows at 10.00am, 12.30pm, and 3.00pm.
4. Take a tour of one of the most haunted places in the UK
Are you brave enough to visit one of the most haunted places in the UK? Hear the haunting stories of their 1,000-year past and discover the tales that are too dark to be included in daytime tours! Explore the vaulted well chamber, visit the punishment cells and go underground into the dark and spooky Crypt. Head to the top of St. Georges Tower to view the dreaming spires as the city lights twinkle.
5. See a new farmyard musical about the joy of unlikely friendships
Pigs Might Fly at Oxford Playhouse is a bold and energetic new musical by Golden Toad Theatre following the air-raising adventures of Pintsize, the youngest and most daring piglet on Mudpuddle Farm. Based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, Pigs Might Fly features catchy songs, puppetry and slapstick humour to bring the farmyard to life!
6. Conjour some spooky science
Visit the Science Oxford Centre for spookily fun science and woodland pumpkin trail for all the family this half term. Explore, discover and play in the Exploration Zone, where children and grown-ups alike have fun experimenting with interactive exhibits. Go on a Halloween Pumpkin Trail and explore the mysterious woodland for magical mini-beasts. And don’t forget the Water Lab is open.
7. Enjoy an enormous fireworks display
Henley Spooktacular Bonfire & Fireworks is a spectacular spooky night of spine tingling fireworks and thrilling entertainment for the whole family. Dress up and come and enjoy a fairground, hot food and drink, bonfire, light show and, most importantly, a jaw-dropping 30-minute fireworks display, choreographed to a freaky Halloween soundtrack.
8. Visit a spooky Victorian station
Young visitors are invited to come along dressed as witches, wizards, ghosts, ghouls, zombies and skeletons to a spellbinding Hallowsteam event. Climb aboard a working steam train for a trip to a spooky Victorian station specially decorated with cobwebs, spiders, bats and more. Here you can also step into a “haunted” carriage.
9. Take a ride on a miniature train
The Cutteslowe Park Miniature Railway opened for the 2022 season in April and will be running miniature locomotives for passenger carrying rides on various dates in 2022, including 30 October. The railway was built and developed by the voluntary efforts of the members of City of Oxford Society of Model Engineers (COSME).
10. Join a spooky halloween trail
As Halloween creeps closer and the days shorten, join with family and friends during the October half-term holiday to explore any one of these fun and spooky Halloween trails in Oxfordshire.
11. Take a halloween themed afternoon tea
This Halloween, treat the kids to a spooktacular Afternoon Tea. Expect sweet treats with ghostly and ghastly themes. And there’s an eerie twist to regular afternoon teas for adults too.
12. Get outside and embrace autumn
To help you make the most of your half-term, the National Trust in Bucks, Berks and Oxfordshire has all kinds of family-friendly events, nature adventures and spooktacular Halloween trails on offer. The kids won’t get bored.
13. Wander through spooky rooms at The Witch’s House
There’s witchery afoot this autumn as the manor house and grounds at Cogges Manor Farm are transformed into The Witch’s House for a Halloween-themed October half-term.
