Richmond Halloween 2026: Kew From 16 Oct, Adults £19.50

Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, at the end of half term week, and Richmond’s biggest Halloween event starts a fortnight earlier. Halloween at Kew opens on Friday 16 October and runs to Sunday 1 November, with adult tickets from £19.50 and last entry strictly at 8.30pm. Kew says it expects the trail to sell out.

Everything below was checked on the organisers’ own pages on 3 October 2026. School dates, Ham House, the museums and the rest of the half term week are on our October half term page.

The quick answer

• Halloween at Kew: 16 October to 1 November. Entry from 6pm until 24 October, from 4pm once the clocks go back on 25 October. Last entry 8.30pm, gardens close 10pm.
• Hampton Court’s haunted palace: 24 October to 1 November, included in a normal palace ticket (adults £30 on weekdays, £33 at weekends).
• Halloween night itself, Saturday 31 October: Strawberry Hill House’s candlelit late, 6pm to 8pm arrivals, £25.
• The fireworks are the next day, Sunday 1 November at Richmond Athletic Ground, with a Halloween theme. Advance tickets only.

Halloween at Kew

This is the third year of Kew’s after-dark trail. It is about 1.5km long and takes an hour to an hour and a half with stops. Kew lists Dracula, fire performers, the Headless Horseman and a new “cursed tomb” this year, with food and drink stalls along the way (cashless, charged separately).

Times. Slots start at 6pm from 16 to 24 October and at 4pm from 25 October to 1 November, and run to a strict last entry of 8.30pm. Kew grades the slots by how dark it is: Daylight (before 6pm) for the very young, Twilight (6pm to 7.30pm) and Moonlight (after 7.30pm), which it calls “as scary as it gets (but still suitable for all)”.

Prices, from Kew’s everything you need to know page, booking fee included:

An “anytime” ticket for one chosen night costs £42 for an adult and £30 for a child. For £3.50 a ticket you can add the right to change your date or time twice, up to seven days before. Otherwise there are no exchanges and no refunds, and Kew’s £1 tickets for Universal Credit and Pension Credit holders do not apply. Tickets are sold through Fever from Kew’s Halloween page. A daytime Kew ticket does not get you onto the trail; you have to leave by 6pm (4pm after the clocks change) and come back in on a Halloween ticket.

Which gate. Victoria Gate on Kew Road (TW9 3JR) is the one for Kew Gardens station, seven minutes’ walk, but it is about 650m from the start of the trail. Elizabeth Gate (TW9 3AE) suits Kew Bridge station, 800m away. Brentford Gate (TW9 3AF) is only for people who have booked the Ferry Lane car park. Your ticket is for one gate, so pick the right one when you book.

Parking. Book it with your ticket or do not drive. Kew’s own Ferry Lane car park costs £15 and closes at 10pm; the National Archives car park (TW9 4FA) costs £13.50, opens 40 minutes before your slot and is about 15 minutes’ walk from Victoria or Elizabeth Gate, with cars out by 10.45pm. Blue Badge holders park free at Ferry Lane but still have to book. Parking on Kew Road is prohibited because of the cycle lanes. Pay-and-display options nearby are on our parking in Richmond page.

No scooters, balance bikes or bikes on the trail, no dogs except assistance dogs, and no candles or lanterns; Kew suggests a torch because some stretches are dimly lit. If weather forces a cancellation, Kew decides by 2pm and offers another date.

Hampton Court Palace

Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November. Historic Royal Palaces turns the palace into a “haunted palace” for half term, with projections, sound effects and ghosts in full costume and make-up. It warns of darkness, loud noises, flashing lights and the occasional jump scare. Outside, the Wilderness has a pumpkin and scarecrow trail aimed at younger children, and there is storytelling every day in the King’s Guard Chamber at 11.30am, 12.15pm, 1pm, 1.45pm, 2.30pm and 3.15pm, about 15 minutes each.

It is included in palace admission and members go free without booking. Until 27 November an adult ticket is £30 on weekdays and £33 at weekends; children aged 5 to 15 are £15 or £16.50, and under-fives are free. Costumes are welcome, but the palace bans masks of any kind, fake blood, glitter, realistic weapons and anything that drags on the floor. Details on the palace’s Halloween page and prices page.

Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham

Horace Walpole’s “little Gothic castle”, where the first Gothic novel was written, is the borough’s most fitting Halloween venue, and it has the only grown-up event on Halloween night itself. From the house’s Halloween page:

• Halloween at Walpole’s Little Gothic Castle, Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November: the house dressed for Halloween with witches’ marks and stories of ghost sightings, included with general admission. The house opens seven days a week over half term.
• Halloween Garden Trail, same dates, 10am to 4pm: £2 a map from the shop, with a sweet if the riddles are solved. No booking.
• Halloween Guided Tour: Death, Dreams and the Supernatural, Saturday 31 October at 11am, 1pm and 2.30pm: £24, students £20.
• Halloween Candlelit Late, Saturday 31 October, arrival slots from 6pm to 8pm: £25, students £17.50, with a free glass of fizz for anyone who arrives in costume.
• The Magic Lantern Show on Friday 30 October and the bat walks on 7 and 9 October are sold out.

For younger children

WWT London Wetland Centre, Barnes, Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November: “SUPER Natural”, which WWT bills as a scare-free Halloween week. Willow wands and a fairy mushroom ring are drop-in all day; a marshland potion starts at 2.15pm, a cryptid hunt at 11.30am, and you can carve a pumpkin for the otters from 1.15pm to 1.45pm. The interactive show Professor Prankster’s Magical Mistake is on the two Saturdays only, 24 and 31 October, at 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm. All of it is included in a standard entry ticket, and booking online saves 10%: WWT London.

East Sheen Halloween Hunt, Saturday 24 October, 10am to noon or 1pm to 3pm, from the Hare & Hounds, 214-215 Upper Richmond Road West, SW14 8AH. Children collect letters from shops along the high street to solve a secret phrase, then claim a prize back at the pub; there is face painting too. Tickets are through DesignMyNight, per the council’s notice for East Sheen Village.

Be Richmond’s Halloween Fun Fest at Duke Street Church on Saturday 24 October is listed as sold out on VisitRichmond.

Pumpkin picking

There is no pumpkin patch in the borough. The nearest we could verify is Garsons’ Pumpkin Parade at Garson Farm, Winterdown Road, Esher, KT10 8LS, over the borough boundary in Surrey. It runs through October, seven days a week, with the farm closing at 5pm. Everyone aged two and over needs a timed-entry ticket, £6.50 to £8 depending on the date, and the pumpkins are priced separately by size. Garsons says weekdays from 5 to 16 October have the best availability: Garsons Pumpkin Parade tickets.

The fireworks, the day after Halloween

Richmond’s only big public display is Richmond Family Fireworks Night on Sunday 1 November at Richmond Athletic Ground, themed as a “Halloween Spooktacular” this year. Gates open at 4.30pm, last entry is 6.30pm and the display starts at 7pm. Tickets are advance only: adults £12.50, children £7.50, grandstand £17.50. It has sold out four years running. Full running order and parking on our fireworks page.

Getting around

The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, so the second week of Kew’s trail starts in the dark at 4pm. There is no rugby at Twickenham over Halloween; the next match is England v Australia on Sunday 8 November. Road closures and works are on our roadworks and travel page.

Related: October half term · what’s on this month · fireworks