Herts half term is 26 to 30 October. A free pumpkin patch, £5 children's films, a skeleton hunt at Mountfitchet and the forest car park that shuts on Mondays.

October half term in Hertfordshire is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Some Bishop’s Stortford schools break earlier and for longer: Hockerill and Bishop’s Stortford College are off for two weeks from 17 October, and St Mary’s goes back on 4 November. Every school’s dates are on our term dates page.

Below are the things actually on in and around the town that week, each from the organiser’s own listing, with the price where one is published.

The quick answer

  • Dates: county half term 26 to 30 October; Hockerill and the College from 17 October.
  • Free: the BID’s Halloween trail all week and a pumpkin patch in Jackson Square on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, 11am to 3pm.
  • Watch out: Hatfield Forest’s car parks and café are closed on Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October, the first two days of half term.

What’s on, day by day

When What Where Price
Sat 24 to Sat 31 Oct Halloween trail in shop windows Town centre Free
Sat 24 Oct to Sun 1 Nov Sherlock Bones skeleton hunt Mountfitchet Castle In the £18 adult / £14 child ticket
Fri 23 Oct to Sun 1 Nov Pumpkin Valley Hertfordshire Zoo, Broxbourne In the day ticket
Mon 26 Oct, 11am Minions & Monsters (U) South Mill Arts £10 adult, £5 child
Mon 26 Oct, 2pm Toy Story 5 (PG) South Mill Arts £10 adult, £5 child
Tue 27 Oct, 2pm Top Secret: The Magic of Science South Mill Arts £16.50, family £62
Tue 27 to Thu 29 Oct, 10am to 2pm Kids’ crafts: make a Saxon boat Bishop’s Stortford Museum, South Mill Arts £2 suggested donation
Thu 29 Oct, 11am and 2pm Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters again South Mill Arts £10 adult, £5 child
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Oct, 11am to 3pm Pop-up pumpkin patch Jackson Square community space Free with a completed trail
Sat 31 Oct, 11am The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) South Mill Arts £10

In the town centre

Halloween trail and pumpkin patch. For the first time, Bishop’s Stortford BID and Jackson Square are running a pop-up pumpkin patch in the shopping centre’s community space, on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, 11am to 3pm (Discover Stortford). Entry is free, but you earn it: A3 posters in shop windows around the town each carry a letter, and children who find them all and spell the word get into the patch with their trail sheet. The trail runs Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October. One pumpkin per child, while stocks last.

At South Mill Arts

The town’s arts centre runs children’s films, a science show and the museum’s drop-in crafts through the week. All details and prices below are from its box office listings (South Mill Arts).

  • Children’s films. Minions & Monsters (U, 91 minutes) and Toy Story 5 (PG, 1 hour 42 minutes), each showing on Monday 26 and Thursday 29 October. £10 adults, £5 children.
  • Top Secret: The Magic of Science, Tuesday 27 October at 2pm, doors 1.30pm. An interactive magic-and-science show “filled with mystery, suspense, and lots and lots of mess”, about two hours. £16.50, or £62 for a family ticket. Under-16s must be with an adult.
  • Kids’ crafts: make a Saxon boat, Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 October, drop in between 10am and 2pm. It is the Bishop’s Stortford Museum’s half-term session, built around the story of Beowulf. Free to register online, with a £2 suggested donation on the day, first come first served.
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG), Saturday 31 October at 11am, £10.

For older teenagers and adults, 31 October is a horror film day at the same venue, starting with Friday the 13th at 1pm and ending with Scream at 9.45pm.

The Bishop’s Stortford ghost walk on Sunday 25 October, led from St Michael’s Church on Windhill, is already sold out on the box office system.

A short drive away

Mountfitchet Castle, Stansted Mountfitchet. “Sherlock Bones”, a hunt for skeletons hidden around the castle, Norman village and grounds, runs from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, and is included in normal entry (Mountfitchet Castle). Admission is £18 adults, £14 children aged 3 to 13, £16 over-65s, under-3s free, and covers the House on the Hill toy museum as well. The Haunted Manor inside the museum is an extra £1.50 each. Open 10am to 5pm daily, last entry 3.45pm; no dogs (Mountfitchet Castle). Note it closes for the winter after Sunday 8 November.

Hertfordshire Zoo, Broxbourne. Pumpkin Valley, a pumpkin trail with a pumpkin tower and photo spots, runs Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November and is included in a day ticket; new this year, you can buy a pumpkin to take home. The separate evening event, Dinos After Dark, runs 5.30pm to 8.30pm on 23, 24, 25, 30 and 31 October and 1 November, with animatronic dinosaurs, UV drummers and a silent disco. It needs its own ticket and is not included in memberships (Hertfordshire Zoo).

Hatfield Forest, Takeley. Free to walk in. The National Trust’s opening calendar shows the car parks and café closed on Mondays and Tuesdays from 26 October, which catches the first two days of half term. From Wednesday 28 October the car park opens 9am with last entry 2.30pm, and the café 9am to 3pm. Non-members pay £9 per car. More on our Hatfield Forest in winter page.

Getting around

If you are driving into town for the pumpkin patch, Jackson Square car park is short stay only; tariffs for every car park are on our parking page, and any closures that week on roadworks and travel.

What is still to be confirmed

Hatfield Forest’s half-term events, and any more town-centre or library sessions, will be added in mid-October as organisers publish them.