Half term is 26 to 30 October; schools shut on Friday 23rd. Woodhorn's light maze, Bamburgh's Gory Stories, Hexham Spook Night and seven more, with prices.

October half term in Northumberland runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Council schools close on Friday 23 October and reopen on Monday 2 November, and a lot of secondary schools add a training day on the Friday before or the Monday after. Halloween falls on the final Saturday, 31 October, which is also the busiest day of the week for events.

The quick answer

  • Dates: schools close Friday 23 October and reopen Monday 2 November 2026. Check your school: some pupils are off from Thursday 22 October.
  • The big new thing: a walk-in light sculpture, Arborialis, at Woodhorn Museum from Saturday 24 to Thursday 29 October. Tickets are now on sale and booking is highly recommended.

Updated 3 October: Woodhorn has opened Arborialis bookings; sessions run 10.15am to 3pm. - Halloween, Saturday 31 October: Hexham Spook Night 2pm to 9pm on Beaumont Street, and Blyth’s two free fireworks displays, a low-noise show at 6pm and the full show at 7.30pm.

Is your school off that week?

The council’s term dates page gives the county dates. Its training-days list shows many schools stretching the week: The Duchess High School, Ponteland High School and Queen Elizabeth High School take Friday 23 October, and Cramlington Learning Village takes Thursday 22 and Friday 23 October. The full school-by-school table is on our term dates page.

Ten things on in half term week

1. Arborialis at Woodhorn Museum, Ashington

An inflatable walk-in “Luminarium” by Architects of Air, all winding paths and coloured light, in place from Saturday 24 to Thursday 29 October, sessions 10.15am to 3pm, with a quieter relaxed session at 10.15am each day. Woodhorn’s event page now takes bookings and says booking is highly recommended. It is free with Woodhorn’s annual pass admission (£11 adults, £10 concessions, under-18s and carers free), and fully accessible for wheelchair users. Shoes come off at the door, so bring warm socks. Children under 16 need an adult, one adult per four children.

2. Pumpkin trail and birds of prey, also at Woodhorn

The pumpkin trail runs through the museum and colliery buildings until Sunday 1 November, 10am to 4pm, with a sweet for finding them all. On Saturday 31 October Ridgeside Falconry brings a birds of prey display, 11am to 3pm, with flying displays at noon and 2pm, weather permitting. Both are included in admission. Woodhorn’s visitor page gives the price: £11 for adults (£10 without the optional donation), under-18s free, and the ticket works as an annual pass. It opens every day in the Northumberland school holidays.

3. The Pumpkin Garden at The Alnwick Garden

The Garden turns autumnal with a scavenger hunt and harvest games in half term week. The Pumpkin Garden is free with Garden entry. In half term week, 24 October to 1 November, the Garden opens 10am to 4pm, an hour shorter than the fortnight before.

4. Spookydorei at Lilidorei, Alnwick

Next door, the Lilidorei play village runs Spookydorei Days until 1 November: costumes, a “Spooky” and a “Not so Spooky” trail, storytelling and optional trick or treat bags from the shop. Spookydorei Nights, from Friday 23 to Saturday 31 October, 5pm to 9pm, is the after-dark version with “some mild jumpscares and spooky effects”. Both are booked in advance.

5. Gory Stories at Bamburgh Castle

Bamburgh’s storyteller tells gruesome tales in the Keep Hall on 24, 25, 30 and 31 October at 11.15am and 2.15pm. The castle’s event page calls it family-friendly but warns some tales may be too much for younger children, and the Keep Hall has steps. It is included with castle admission, as are the drop-in Halloween clay crafts on 24, 25 and 31 October and 1 November, 11am to 3pm.

6. The Scarycrow Trail, Ford and Etal

Local people and businesses build “Scarycrows” around the villages and visitors score them. The Ford and Etal trail runs 26 October to 1 November, is free (a donation for the map goes to a local charity), and has run for more than 19 years. Maps come from the village shops. Parking is free in Etal, Heatherslaw and Ford, and dogs are welcome.

7. Last week of the Heatherslaw Light Railway

The narrow-gauge line between Heatherslaw and Etal runs daily until Sunday 1 November, its timetable page says, then stops until its Christmas Specials. Return fares are £12.50 adult, £6 child and £34 for a family of four, sold on the day only at the Heatherslaw ticket office. Trains leave Heatherslaw at 11am, noon, 1pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

8. Halloween Weekend on the Aln Valley Railway

Steam trains and a bat trail from Lionheart Station in Alnwick on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, from the railway’s times and tickets page.

9. Hexham Spook Night

Hexham Town Council’s Spook Night takes over Beaumont Street on Saturday 31 October, 2pm to 9pm, with rides and competitions. The council’s Gruesome Walking Tour also runs every Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 1.30pm.

10. Blyth’s Halloween week and fireworks

Blyth Town Council runs a free Halloween week in the Market Pavilion, Tuesday 27 to Saturday 31 October, 10am to 4pm: drop-in crafts and a giant spooky creation that families build during the week. On Friday 30 October at 3pm a community Halloween parade with costumed dancers and music goes round the Marketplace.

It ends with the fireworks at Mermaid Car Park on Saturday 31 October, which this year are two displays: a low-noise show at 6pm for young children and anyone who finds fireworks hard, and the full display at 7.30pm. The funfair, food stalls and a Halloween disco start at 4pm. Everything is free. There is no parking at Mermaid Car Park, which closes from 4pm, and the council asks people not to park on verges or in residential streets. The other displays are on our fireworks page.

Pumpkin picking at Brocksbushes and Whitehouse Farm, Belsay’s Great Pumpkin Party and the sold-out Chillingham ghost tours are on our Northumberland Halloween page.

Getting there

Most of these are a car journey for most families. Roadworks and closures that week will be on our roadworks page, and town-centre car parks are on the parking page. All twelve Northumberland tips switch to their 6pm winter closing on 1 November, the Sunday of half term; the tip opening times page has them.

Still to be confirmed

  • Extra buses for the Blyth fireworks, which the town council says to look out for.