Worcester half term is 26 to 30 October: free Bridges of Light on 28 and 29 October, £1 witch trails, Spellbound at Spetchley, and no Foregate Street trains.

October half term in Worcester runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 for most schools. Here is what the city’s museums, library, cathedral and nearest gardens have published for that week, with prices, and one piece of travel news that will change plenty of days out: no trains will call at Worcester Foregate Street from Tuesday to Friday.

The quick answer

  • Dates: council schools close Friday 23 October and reopen Monday 2 November. RGS and King’s break a week earlier, from 19 October.
  • Best-value picks: the Commandery’s Halloween family mornings (27 to 29 October, £5.50 a child), £1 Halloween trails at the Commandery and the Art Gallery, free illustrated-letter workshops at The Hive on 29 October, and Spellbound at Spetchley (25 October to 1 November).
  • Trains: buses replace trains between Worcester and Great Malvern / Hereford all week, and Foregate Street has no trains Tuesday to Friday. Use Shrub Hill.

Updated 3 October: Spetchley’s half-term event is now “Spellbound - The Enchanted Path to Wizardry”, Sunday 25 October to Sunday 1 November, replacing the “Spooky Fun Spetchley” listing; Museums Worcestershire has added £1 Halloween trails and £2.50 activity bags; The Hive has added a children’s papermaking workshop; Webbs at Wychbold has £7.50 pumpkin carving all week.

Updated 4 October: added Bridges of Light, Severn Arts’ free light festival in the city centre on 28 and 29 October, 6pm to 9pm, and the Bennetts Willow Barn pumpkin patch.

Term dates for every school type, including INSET days, are on our Worcester school term dates page.

Sixteen things on in and near Worcester that week

Every listing below comes from the organiser’s own page, first checked on 25 September and re-checked on 3 October 2026. Book ahead where it says so.

1. A Spook-tacular Family Morning, The Commandery. Tuesday 27, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, 10.30am to 12 noon. Witch’s hats, mini monsters, messy play and a trail around the building, aimed at pre-school to 11. £5.50 per child, plus general admission, which Worcester Residents’ pass holders get free. A responsible adult must stay (Museums Worcestershire).

2. After-dark tours, The Commandery. Torchlit guided tours “with a Halloween twist” on Tuesday 27 and Thursday 29 October at 6.30pm and 8pm, the last of this year’s run. £16.50 (Museums Worcestershire).

3. Get Arty: Frightful Fairytales, Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum. Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 October, 10.30 to 11.30am. Children make their own pop-up story book. £5.50, booking needed (Museums Worcestershire).

4. Reflections, Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum. The water-themed exhibition with works by Monet, Boudin, Daubigny and Corot on loan from the National Gallery and the Glynn Vivian Gallery, alongside modern artists including David Hockney. Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm, Sunday 10am to 3pm, closed Mondays, until 3 January 2027 (Museums Worcestershire). More on our Monet in Worcester page.

5. Illustrated Letters Workshop, The Hive. Thursday 29 October at 10.30am and 2pm. A free Halloween-themed drawing workshop for children, inspired by Inktober (The Hive).

6. Lego and Construction Club and Rat-a-Tat Tales, The Hive. Lego club on Saturdays 24 and 31 October, 10 to 11.30am; interactive storytime every Saturday and Sunday at 11am and 3pm. Both free drop-ins (The Hive, storytime). Parents of under-fives can also try Bounce and Rhyme on 27 and 30 October and the Wacky Wednesday stay and play on 28 October.

7. Spellbound: The Enchanted Path to Wizardry, Spetchley Park Gardens. Sunday 25 October to Sunday 1 November, just east of the city at WR5 1RS. Spetchley’s event page gives the dates but no times or extra charge yet; its visitor page lists the same event as starting on Saturday 24 October, which is also the day of its Vintage Home and Garden Fair. Garden admission is £11 adult, £7 child (3 to 16), £28 family, cheaper online, and the gardens otherwise open autumn weekends only, 10.30am to 4pm (Spetchley Park Gardens, Spellbound, visitor information).

8. Enough?, Worcester Cathedral. An installation of 260 figures about civilian deaths in war, on show from 16 October to 5 November during visiting hours (Worcester Cathedral). The cathedral is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 12.30 to 3pm; on Saturday 24 October the East End closes from 12.30 to 3pm for a wedding (opening times).

9. Elvis by Candlelight, Worcester Cathedral. Friday 30 October, 7.30pm, with tribute artist Gordon Hendricks (Worcester Cathedral).

10. Norton fireworks, The Sergeants’ Mess. The venue lists its “Annual Fireworks display” for Saturday 24 October, the first day of the holiday, at Brockhill Lane, Norton (The Sergeants’ Mess). No time or price is published yet. Our Worcester fireworks page has the rest of the season.

11. The Witch’s Potion family trail, The Commandery. Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November, closed Mondays. Children hunt for a witch’s lost potion ingredients around the building. £1 a child plus general admission, which Residents’ pass holders get free. The Commandery opens 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sunday (Museums Worcestershire).

12. Frightful Fairytales trail and activity bags, Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum. Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, closed Mondays. A £1 trail to break the fairytale villains’ spell, and £2.50 activity bags (candy cottage collage, paper-plate wolf, poisoned apple keyring), both from the museum shop. Entry to the museum is free (Museums Worcestershire).

13. Papermaking Workshop, The Hive. Wednesday 28 October, 11am to 12.30pm, with a second session listed at 2pm. Severn Waste Services shows children how paper, card and cartons are recycled, then they make their own paper. Ages 6 to 11, 20 places a session, booked through the county’s library events system; a parent has to stay (The Hive).

14. Halloween pumpkin carving, Webbs, Wychbold. Monday 26 to Saturday 31 October, hourly sessions through the day (Webbs’ page says 10 to 3). £7.50 a child, including a 15 to 20cm pumpkin, carving tools on the day and a battery tealight to take home; parents help younger children. Webbs is on Worcester Road, Wychbold, WR9 0DG, about eight miles north of the city (Webbs).

15. Bridges of Light, city centre. Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, 6pm to 9pm. Severn Arts’ light festival is free with no tickets, with projections across Worcester Bridge and walk-through lit cubes in Cathedral Square (Severn Arts). More on our Bridges of Light page.

16. Pick-your-own pumpkins, Bennetts Willow Barn, Lower Wick. Open daily 10am to 3pm in half term until Thursday 29 October, with an After Dark evening on Friday 30 October. Entry from £4 booked ahead; pumpkins extra by size (Bennetts Willow Barn). Every pumpkin patch and Halloween night event is on our Worcester Halloween page.

Trains: Foregate Street closes to trains for half term

Network Rail is renewing track between Worcester and Hereford from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, and National Rail’s notice spells out what that means (National Rail):

  • No trains between Worcester Foregate Street and Great Malvern / Hereford all week. Buses replace them from Shrub Hill, Foregate Street and Great Malvern.
  • Tuesday to Friday, no trains run to or from Foregate Street at all. West Midlands Railway runs an amended service between Birmingham and Shrub Hill.
  • On Monday a heavily reduced service runs between Birmingham and Foregate Street.
  • GWR trains from London Paddington terminate at Shrub Hill. Tickets are valid on the replacement buses.

The following week, Monday 2 to Thursday 5 November, late-evening GWR trains between Oxford and Worcester are replaced by buses or diverted (National Rail). Our Worcester train times to London page covers the normal timetable, and parking in Worcester has the car parks if you drive in instead. Road closures are on Worcester roadworks and travel.

Still to be confirmed

  • Norton fireworks: time, price and booking.
  • The city’s biggest display, at Sixways, falls after half term, on Saturday 7 November (Sixways Stadium).
  • More Hive and museum sessions may be added closer to the week. We will re-check in mid-October.

Frequently asked questions

When is October half term 2026 in Worcester? Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 for council schools, Nunnery Wood and Christopher Whitehead. RGS Worcester and King’s Worcester break from 19 to 30 October.

Are trains running from Worcester Foregate Street in half term? Not from Tuesday 27 to Friday 30 October. Trains to Birmingham run from Shrub Hill, and buses replace trains to Great Malvern and Hereford all week.

What free things are on in Worcester in half term? The Hive’s illustrated letters workshop on 29 October, its Saturday Lego club and weekend storytimes are free. Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum has free entry.

What Halloween events are there in Worcester? The Commandery has family mornings from 27 to 29 October, a £1 witch’s potion trail all week and after-dark tours on 27 and 29 October. Spetchley Park runs Spellbound: The Enchanted Path to Wizardry from 25 October to 1 November.

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