Bucks half term runs 26 to 30 October 2026. Free Halloween activities in the town centre on 29 October, £4 museum crafts daily and a torchlit doll hunt.
October half term in Aylesbury is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 for schools on the Buckinghamshire Council calendar (Buckinghamshire Council). The biggest free day out is Aylesbury Town Council’s Halloween Fun in the town centre on Thursday 29 October, and Discover Bucks Museum has a Halloween activity on every day of the week.
The quick answer
- Half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Some academies break a week earlier, from 19 October, so check your school’s own dates.
- Free Halloween Fun, Thursday 29 October, 11am to 3pm, at three town centre venues. Free, but every session must be booked.
- Discover Bucks Museum: a £4 Halloween drop-in each day, a £7.50 Spooky Science workshop on 29 and 30 October, and a torchlit Creepy Doll Hunt for over-10s on Saturday 31 October.
Check your school first
Not every Aylesbury school has the same week off. The three Insignis Academy Trust secondaries, Sir Henry Floyd, The Mandeville School and The Kingsbrook School, have two weeks off, from Monday 19 to Friday 30 October. Aylesbury Grammar, Aylesbury High and the Royal Latin add training days either side, so pupils there are off from Friday 23 October and go back on Tuesday 3 November. The school-by-school table is on our Aylesbury school term dates page.
What’s on, day by day
Everything below is from the organiser’s own listing, checked on 25 September 2026.
| Day | What | Where | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 26 Oct | Spiders and Webs: make a yarn-wrapped spider and a hanging web, ages 4+ | Discover Bucks Museum | Drop in 10am to 3pm | £4 child with one adult free |
| Tue 27 Oct | Ghouls and Ghosts: a 3D haunted scene with a moving ghost, ages 4+ | Discover Bucks Museum | Drop in 10am to 3pm | £4 child with one adult free |
| Wed 28 Oct | Clay Monsters: sculpt a Halloween monster, ages 3+ | Discover Bucks Museum | Drop in 10am to 3pm | £4 child with one adult free |
| Thu 29 Oct | Halloween Fun: free film screenings, crafts and junk modelling | Fusion, Esquires and Darlington's, town centre | 11am to 3pm | Free, booking needed |
| Thu 29 and Fri 30 Oct | Spooky Science: witches' brew and ogre slime, taught sessions, ages 5+ | Discover Bucks Museum | 10.15am, 12.15pm or 2.15pm, one hour | £7.50 child with one adult free |
| Fri 30 Oct | Spooky Bingo for WheelPower, fancy dress prizes | Stoke Mandeville Stadium | Eyes down 7pm | £10 a book |
| Sat 31 Oct | Creepy Doll Hunt by torchlight, not for under-10s | Discover Bucks Museum | Booked slots 6.30pm to 8.30pm | £5 each |
Halloween Fun in the town centre, Thursday 29 October
Aylesbury Town Council’s Halloween Fun listing runs three things at once from 11am to 3pm:
- Casper on the big screen at Fusion, two free showings at 11am and 1pm.
- Spooky craft sessions at Esquires, at 11am, noon, 1pm and 2pm.
- Halloween junk modelling at Darlington’s, at 11am, noon, 1pm and 2pm.
All of it is free, but places are limited and have to be booked in advance through Ticket Tailor, linked from the council’s page. The council asks families to book early.
Discover Bucks Museum, all week
The museum on Church Street has a different activity every day, all listed on its October half term booking page. The Monday to Wednesday crafts are drop-ins from 10am to 3pm with last entry at 2.30pm; each extra adult is £4. Spooky Science is a taught session, so be there for the start; each extra adult is £5.
The Creepy Doll Hunt on Saturday 31 October is the one for older children: a torchlit trail through the museum’s Tudor and Victorian rooms, the galleries and the walled garden. It is £5 a person, you bring your own torch, and it is not suitable for anyone under 10.
The museum’s Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery opens at weekends and in the Buckinghamshire school holidays, so it is open all half term week (Discover Bucks Museum). Prices for the gallery and the museum are on our things to do in Aylesbury page.
Spooky Bingo, Friday 30 October
WheelPower’s Spooky Bingo at Stoke Mandeville Stadium raises money for the national wheelchair sport charity. Books go on sale from 6.15pm, eyes down is at 7pm and it finishes at 9.30pm. £10 buys six games of prize bingo and two cash flyers, and there are prizes for the best fancy dress and the best decorated table.
Out of town
- Wendover Woods switches to its winter hours on the first day of half term: from Monday 26 October it is open 8am to 5pm, with last car entry an hour before closing (Forestry England). Until Sunday 25 October it stays open to 7pm.
- Waddesdon Manor opens Wednesday to Sunday, so it is shut on the Monday and Tuesday of half term. Grounds tickets are £14 for adults, £7 for children aged 5 to 17 and free for under-5s and National Trust members (Waddesdon Manor). What else is on there this winter is on our Waddesdon Manor at Christmas page.
Getting about that week
On the weekend before half term, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, buses replace trains between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury because of engineering work (National Rail). The line via Amersham is not affected by that notice. For town centre car parks see our parking in Aylesbury page, and for road closures our roadworks page.
Still to be confirmed
- Library and leisure centre half-term sessions, which are usually listed nearer the time. We will add them when they appear.
- Any further Halloween events on Aylesbury Town Council’s events calendar, which it updates through October.
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