Barnet half term is 26 to 30 October: free Spires pumpkin parties on 28 and 30 Oct, Brent Cross Town films and a dog parade, GROW pumpkins and ghost walks.

October half term in Barnet is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, and Halloween falls on the Saturday straight after it. Three things in the borough are already on sale with fixed dates and prices: four nights of a ghost walk from High Barnet tube, a week of space and laser tag at the RAF Museum, and four family shows at artsdepot. Everything below was checked against the organisers’ own booking pages on 6 September.

Updated 17 October: The Spires in High Barnet has published a free Pumpkin Patch Party on Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 October, 11am to 3pm, with no booking, and GROW’s Pumpkin Time on 24 October is down to its last few tickets.

Updated 10 October: GROW Farm in Totteridge has added a pick-your-own pumpkin morning on Saturday 24 October, Brent Cross Town has published a free Halloween week ending in a dog parade on 31 October, and the Dear Zoo times below are corrected to the venue’s listing (2pm on the Friday, 11am and 2pm on the Saturday).

The dates

Barnet’s community schools take half term from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, per the term dates published by St Margaret’s in Barnet, which follow the council’s pattern. Academies, free schools and voluntary aided schools set their own dates and a few differ, so check your own school’s calendar before booking anything.

Halloween itself is Saturday 31 October, and the first Monday back, 2 November, is an inset day at several Barnet primaries.

The Halloween ghost walk, four nights

Barnet and London Walks runs Things That Go Bump in High Barnet on Thursday 29, Friday 30, Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, all at 7.30pm. It is a guided walk through High Barnet and Monken Hadley, taking in the Pirate’s Grave and stories of witchcraft and grisly deaths, and the guide’s own listing promises audience participation.

The practical bits, from the walks page: you meet outside High Barnet tube station by the car park, walks run about two hours, and you should bring a torch or a phone because part of the route goes through a churchyard. It costs £15, or £5 for accompanied under-12s. The organiser asks you to phone or email before you come, on 07506 761294.

Four nights is unusual for a single walk and suggests it sells. If you want the Saturday, ring early.

Pumpkin picking at GROW Farm, Saturday 24 October

GROW, the youth food-growing charity that farms the grounds of The Totteridge Academy on Barnet Lane, N20 8AZ, runs Pumpkin Time on Saturday 24 October from 10am to 2pm, the first weekend of half term. You pick your own pumpkin from the farm’s polytunnels, and the charity lists homemade pumpkin soup, children’s activities, farm tours, a fire pit and a seed-saving drop-in. It is ticketed through the “Book tickets” link on the events page, which does not print a price. On 17 October the listing read “Last few tickets!”, and GROW’s pick-your-own flower mornings this summer sold out, so book now rather than turn up.

This is the only pick-your-own pumpkin patch inside the borough that has published a 2026 date.

The Spires: Pumpkin Patch Party, 28 and 30 October

The Spires shopping centre on High Barnet’s High Street runs two free Halloween days for younger children, both 11am to 3pm, with free entry and no booking:

  • Wednesday 28 October, Tricks, Treats and Crafts: Halloween face painting and pumpkin games run by a host, including Hook a Pumpkin, a pumpkin ring toss and a pumpkin relay race.
  • Friday 30 October, Pumpkin Patch Adventure: a pumpkin farmer character walks the centre with story times through the day, and children decorate a pumpkin craft to take home.

On both days the Scarecrow Quest trail asks children to find seven hidden farmyard friends around the centre and work out a secret word. Show the finished trail to the event team on either day for a pumpkin chocolate; correct answers go into a draw for a £100 gift card.

Brent Cross Town: free Halloween week

The new Brent Cross Town neighbourhood around Claremont Park, a partnership between Barnet Council and Related Argent, has the borough’s biggest free programme. Everything below is from Brent Cross Town’s own event pages, and all of it is at or next to the Visitor Pavilion, 145 Claremont Road, NW2 1FE.

  • Halloween Trail, every day to Sunday 1 November. Collect a trail map and free coloured pencils from the Visitor Pavilion, answer the quiz around the park, and take it back to the pavilion for a reward. The map can also be downloaded. Free.
  • Half-Term Craft Club, Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October, 10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm. Children make decorations for the dog parade route, plus haunted house hats, bats and pumpkin masks to take home. Free, no booking, first come first served, materials provided.
  • Spooky Screenings, Monday 26, Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 October, 4pm to 6pm: Coco, Hocus Pocus and Monsters, Inc., in that order. Free popcorn, no booking, first come first served; children must be with an adult.
  • Halloween Dog Parade, Saturday 31 October, 11am to 1pm, Claremont Park, in aid of Pets As Therapy. Check-in and the “Dog Village” open at 11am, the parade sets off at noon, judging is at 12.30pm and prizes at 1.15pm. Dogs must be registered in advance; spectators without a dog are welcome.

RAF Museum London: Jet and Space Week, 24 October to 1 November

The RAF Museum in Colindale runs its half term programme from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, which is longer than the school week at both ends. Museum entry stays free. The three activities are ticketed separately:

  • Percy and Mr Fox: Attack of the Clones, ages 3 and up, a hunt for cloned characters hidden through Hangars 3, 4 and 5. Sessions at 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm every day from 24 October to 1 November. £5, and adults do not need their own ticket but must stay with their children.
  • Space Odyssey Planetarium, ages 6 and up, a 45 minute show inside a mobile planetarium. Same five session times, but only on 24 to 27 October. £6.50, and adults do need their own ticket.
  • Laser Tag, ages 7 and up, with inflatable obstacles. Sessions at 11am, midday, 1pm and 2pm every day from 29 October to 1 November. £6.50, adults do not need a ticket.

The two ticketed activities in the second half of the week overlap, so a family with a six year old and an eight year old can do the clone hunt together on any day, but the planetarium and the laser tag never run on the same date.

The museum is on Grahame Park Way, NW9 5LL, open daily 10am to 5pm with last entry at 4.30pm, and the outdoor playground and the museum trails are free. It also flags that vehicles cannot park on site before 10am unless they are part of a pre-booked group.

artsdepot: four shows in one week

artsdepot at Tally Ho Corner, 5 Nether Street, North Finchley N12 0GA, has the busiest half term programme in the borough. All of these are on general sale, and the performance times below come from the venue’s own booking system.

Dear Zoo, Pentland Theatre, Friday 23 to Tuesday 27 October. The stage version of the lift-the-flap book. Seven performances: 2pm on the Friday, 11am and 2pm on the Saturday, 11am and 2pm on the Sunday, 11am on the Monday and 11am on the Tuesday. Fifty-five minutes with no interval, ages 1 and up, from £15. The Sunday 2pm has audio description and a touch tour.

Club Origami, Studio Theatre, Sunday 25 October at 11.30am and 2.30pm. Forty minutes plus stay and play afterwards, recommended for ages 2 to 5, from £13.75. The 2.30pm is a relaxed performance.

Kevin Quantum: Anti-Gravity, Studio Theatre, Tuesday 27 October at 7pm. Two hours including an interval, age guidance 8 and up, from £19. This one is an evening show, so it is the option for older children.

The Amazing Bubble Man, Pentland Theatre, Thursday 29 October at 2pm. One hour ten minutes with no interval, recommended for ages 2 and up, from £15.

Booking three or more shows takes 10 per cent off under the venue’s Pick and Mix offer, and groups of ten or more should call the box office on 020 8369 5454.

artsdepot also runs four holiday day camps that week, each about five and a half hours from 10am: Robotics with LEGO kits on Monday 26 October, Minecraft Coding on Tuesday 27, Yoga and Art on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29, and Camp Perform: Spooktacular Show In A Day on Friday 30. Those are not listed on the website with prices, so book them through the box office.

What is not out yet

Barnet Council’s libraries have run Halloween craft and story sessions in past years, at Golders Green, North Finchley, East Finchley and Burnt Oak among others. Nothing for 2026 has been published anywhere we can reach: the council’s own website has been unreachable to us since the summer and its events feed is behind the same wall. If a library programme appears, it is usually free and usually announced two or three weeks ahead.

Brent Cross On Ice opens in the John Lewis car park on Friday 23 October and runs weekday sessions from 3pm through half term; times and prices are on our Barnet ice rink page.

Brent Cross shopping centre had nothing half term or Halloween related on its site when we checked on 6 September.

Getting around

High Barnet station is on the Northern line and the ghost walk starts at its door. For artsdepot, Woodside Park and West Finchley are the nearest tubes and the North Finchley council car parks at Castle Road, Lodge Lane, Stanhope Road and Woodhouse Road all run the same tariff, so pick on walking distance. Full tariffs are on our parking in Barnet page, and anything dug up that week will be on the Barnet roadworks page.

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