Croydon Halloween 2026: Boxpark Turns 10, Dracula, Pumpkins

Croydon Council does not run a Halloween event, and has not promoted one since 2016. What the borough does have is a handful of venues putting on something for 31 October and a half term full of family shows. October half term for Croydon’s council schools is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, and Halloween falls on the Saturday after it.

The family Halloween events inside the borough are on Saturday 31 October: pumpkin carving and a fancy dress disco at Stanley Arts in South Norwood, and a free birthday day at Boxpark on George Street. For adults, the David Lean Cinema is showing a Hammer Dracula double bill that night. For a pumpkin patch you need to leave the borough: Godstone Farm, over the Surrey border, has a confirmed 2026 Halloween programme with one.

Updated 16 October: Centrale has added Next Level, four days of free gaming in its Upper Mall from 24 to 27 October, and two town-centre pubs have listed Halloween nights. Every other event below was re-checked and is unchanged.

Updated 9 October: Boxpark Croydon has announced a free Family Feastival for its tenth birthday on 31 October, with 1,000 free drinks from 3pm, and the Museum of Croydon has added two free half-term craft clubs, including creepy crafts on 30 October.

Everything below was read from the organisers’ own pages on 3, 9 and 16 October 2026. Check the link before you set off, as times can change.

Halloween day, Saturday 31 October

• Family Craft: Pumpkin Carving, 11am to 3pm, Stanley Arts, 12 South Norwood Hill, SE25 6AB. £6.50, and one ticket is one pumpkin. Pumpkins are provided and a facilitator supervises the carving. The venue asks everyone to arrive by 2pm so there is time to finish before it closes at 3pm. (Stanley Arts)
• Family Feastival: 10 Years of BOXPARK Croydon, 11am to 11pm, BOXPARK Croydon, 99 George Street, CR0 1LD. Free. Boxpark is giving away 1,000 free drinks from 3pm, while they last, and runs a fancy dress competition, face painting, arts and crafts, a magician and FanPark games such as keepy-uppy challenges, with prizes. The details come from Croydon BID’s listing; Boxpark’s own Halloween page promises “a thousand free pints” and a spooky live band. (Croydon BID; Boxpark)
• Halloween Family Disco, 2pm to 5pm, Stanley Arts. From £4, all ages, costumes encouraged. The bar sells soft drinks, snacks and alcohol, and pizzas can be pre-ordered. Only babies under 12 months go free. (Stanley Arts)
• Dracula (1958), 6pm, David Lean Cinema, Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street. The cinema describes it as a new restoration of the original uncut version, shown in UK cinemas for the first time, with a ten minute short about the restoration. (David Lean Cinema)
• Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), 8.30pm, David Lean Cinema. A 60th anniversary screening of an original Technicolor 35mm print, which the cinema says is supported by Croydon Council. Booking both films together saves £2. (David Lean Cinema)
• The Halloqueen Ball, 8pm to 10pm, Stanley Arts. £16, ages 14 and over, doors 7.30pm. A Halloween drag show hosted by Tiana Biscuit, with a costume runway for the audience and a prize for the best costume. (Stanley Arts)

The cinema’s own film pages do not print a ticket price. Croydon BID’s listing of the double bill gives £6 to £10.50 a film. (Croydon BID)

Half term, 24 October to 1 November

• Kids Play Free at PLAYBOX, Saturday 24 to Friday 30 October, PLAYBOX Croydon, upstairs at Boxpark, 99 George Street, CR0 1LD. Up to two children aged 15 or under play free with every paying adult. Bookings are for two to 16 people. (PLAYBOX Croydon)
• Next Level, Saturday 24 to Tuesday 27 October, Upper Mall, Centrale, North End. Free. Four days of gaming, esports and digital making for half term: the BRIT School brings a BRIT Arcade where visitors can design a pixel art character and drive a racing game built in Unreal Engine 5, and Reaching Higher’s young podcasters record live from a Gamers Corner, with leaderboard challenges and talks from people in the games industry. The centre has not published daily times or the speakers yet. (Centrale and Whitgift)
• Croydon Archives Open Day, Saturday 24 October, 11.30am to 4.30pm, Croydon Archives in the Clocktower. Free, no booking: games, workshops, stalls and historic documents, photographs and objects to handle, for all ages. (Museum of Croydon)
• Dinosaur Adventure Live: Danger on T-Rex Mountain, Monday 26 October, 2pm and 4.30pm, Fairfield Ashcroft Theatre, Park Lane, CR0 1JD. £19.75. A one hour show in which, the venue says, children meet baby dinosaurs and can even feed them. (Fairfield Halls)
• Craft club: Make a paper camera, Wednesday 28 October, 2pm to 3.30pm, Atrium, Croydon Clocktower (level 0). Free, no booking, suggested for ages five and over. (Museum of Croydon)
• Craft club: Creepy crafts, Friday 30 October, 11.30am to 1pm, Atrium, Croydon Clocktower. Free, no booking: paper lanterns, spiders and other creepy crafts in a relaxed drop-in, suggested for ages five and over. (Museum of Croydon)
• Flotsam: A new opera for young children, Friday 30 October, 11am and 2pm, Stanley Arts. £11, recommended for ages two to six, 35 minutes long. Under 12 months go free. (Stanley Arts)

For grown-ups, The Ludoquist at 63-67 High Street, CR0 1QE, holds a Spooky Quiz Night on Saturday 17 October at 6.30pm, £2 a head, with rounds on “the spooky, the horrific, the witches and wizardry”. (The Ludoquist)

Two town-centre pubs have listed Halloween nights with Croydon BID, both free to get in:

• Halloween Karaoke, Thursday 29 October, 8pm, The Porter and Sorter, Station Road, CR0 6TB, by East Croydon station. Spin a wheel for a spooky song; the best performance wins a “zombie finger” jelly shot. Tables can be booked. (Croydon BID)
• Haunted Pub Party, Saturday 31 October from 9pm, Crown & Pepper, 242 High Street, CR0 1NF. DJ Rhino from 9pm until late, free face painting from 9pm, two cocktails for £18.50 from 7pm and prizes for the best-dressed guests. Tables on 020 8688 7507. (Croydon BID)

Pumpkin picking near Croydon

There is no pick-your-own pumpkin patch inside the borough.

Godstone Farm, Tilburstow Hill Road, Godstone, RH9 8LX, runs Halloween at Godstone Farm every day from Saturday 17 October to Sunday 1 November 2026. Halloween tickets are £19.95 for ages two and over, including adults, and £9.95 for one-year-olds, covering all-day entry, indoor and outdoor play, the animals and the Halloween activities. Pumpkin carving is £5 extra and marshmallow toasting £3.50, paid on the day. The farm opens 10am to 4.45pm, and online tickets bought the day before are up to £2 a head cheaper, with a £2 booking fee per order. (Godstone Farm: Halloween; prices and opening times)

One caution: the farm says it is “still confirming our 2026 schedule”, so the activity list on its page (a mystery trail, spooky crafts, Dinosaur Squeak) describes last year. The dates, the pumpkin patch and the prices are 2026’s.

The same farm holds a Mini Fireworks Festival on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October from 4.30pm, with the fireworks finale around 7pm: low-bang fireworks and lasers for small children, with stilt walkers, fire acts and a kids’ disco. Tickets are £17.95 for adults and children aged two and over, and £13.95 for under twos, and the farm warns that its half term fireworks nights always go fast. (Godstone Farm: Mini Fireworks Festival)

Hewitts Farm in Chelsfield, near Orpington, says its pick-your-own season “ends in October with pumpkins”. It has not published 2026 pumpkin dates on its website and posts what is ready on its Facebook page. (Hewitts Farm)

What we looked for and did not find

• No council event. The council newsroom’s last Halloween item is from 26 October 2016, when it promoted Halloween fireworks in Addington Park. Culture Croydon, the council’s events site, lists nothing for Halloween this year.
• The Museum of Croydon now lists two free half-term craft clubs, one of them Halloween-themed, as well as the Archives Open Day; all three are above.
• Bonfire night is separate. Sanderstead’s display is on Thursday 5 November, and our Croydon fireworks page tracks it and the rest.

We will add to this page as more venues publish their half term programmes.

Getting about in half term

Trams will not run east of East Croydon from 24 October to 5 November, which covers all of half term, so check our tram closure story before setting off towards Beckenham Junction, Elmers End or New Addington. For the town centre, our parking in Croydon page sets out the council’s tariffs, and roadworks and travel covers anything closed on the way in. Term dates for the rest of the year are on our Croydon term dates page.