Lewisham's October half term ran 26 to 30 October 2026: Octonauts craft at the Horniman, a free trail, and a Day of the Dead festival that sold out weeks ahead.

October half term in Lewisham is Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2026. That is the council’s published date for its own schools. Academies and trusts set their own, so check your school if you are booking anything expensive.

Updated 20 October: tickets for the Charlotte Mensah hair and making workshop on Sunday 25 October are now on sale at the Horniman, £5 for an adult and child.

Updated 30 October: the Horniman now lists the evening fiesta on 31 October as sold out too.

Updated 18 October: the Day of the Dead family festival on 31 October has sold out, the Horniman says. The adult evening fiesta and the Octonauts sessions are still on sale.

Updated 3 October: the Day of the Dead evening fiesta is now on sale (the family festival is still “coming soon”), the Horniman has added a hair and making workshop on 25 October, and the Albany and Deptford Cinema have Halloween events. Our Lewisham Halloween page has those.

Two things are worth knowing before you plan the week.

The Horniman is the borough’s half-term programme. Lewisham Council has published nothing for October 2026 on its what’s-on page, and the libraries’ events feed had nothing listed past early September when we checked on 6 September. Almost everything with a confirmed date and price is at the museum in Forest Hill.

The Horniman Gardens close completely on 31 October. The museum’s own listings say the Gardens are “Closed 31 October, 25 December”. That is the Saturday at the end of half term, and it is the day of the ticketed Day of the Dead festival. If your plan was a free wander round the gardens that day, it will not work.

The one to book: Day of the Dead, Saturday 31 October

This is the biggest ticketed family event in the borough that weekend, and it sits in the Conservatory in the Gardens.

Family festival Evening fiesta
When Sat 31 October, 11am to 4pm Sat 31 October, 7pm to 10.30pm
Who All ages 18+ only
Adult £8 £22
Child under 16 £6 not admitted
Under 2 Free not admitted
Access companion Free free

Advance booking is required for both. The family festival was listed as sold out on 18 October, and the evening fiesta on 30 October. Everyone in a family group needs a ticket, including under 2s, and the festival goes ahead whatever the weather with no refunds.

The daytime festival runs on an expanded capacity this year. It opens with Journey to Mictlán, a ceremonial procession with Aztec dancers and musicians, and then runs live mariachi and folkloric dance through the day. For children there is mask-making, storytelling drawn from Mexican legends, face painting and a Día de Muertos discovery trail. There is a community ofrenda for people to add their own tributes, and a market of Mexican and Latin American makers with street food.

The 18+ fiesta is a different event in the same space: a welcome cocktail, live music, a sonidero DJ playing Mexico City street party sounds, contemporary Mexican food, and tequila and mezcal.

Free things during the week itself

The museum and gardens are free to visit, open daily 10am to 5.30pm. During half term the free items are:

  • Octonauts: Adventure at the Horniman, a trail running until 1 November, 10am to 5.30pm. Pick it up at the Ticket Desk or inside the Voyage to the Deep exhibition. Children search for shells, mimic musical instruments, design an underwater vehicle, collect a mission-complete sticker and finish with a bonus adventure in the Sound Garden.
  • British Wildlife Photography Awards, free, running to 21 February 2027, guided by the photographers’ own words.
  • Horniman Market, Sundays 10am to 3pm on the Bandstand Terrace, free and drop-in. That catches Sunday 25 October and Sunday 1 November, either side of the week.

What costs money at the Horniman

Three paid items either side of the week. The first falls on the Sunday before half term.

In Our Hands: Hair, Memory and Making with Charlotte Mensah, Sunday 25 October, sessions at 11am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm. A hands-on family workshop rooted in hair culture with the three-time Afro Hairdresser of the Year, for ages 3 to 18 with a parent or carer. £5 for an adult and child, in the Conservatory in the Gardens. Tickets went on sale after 18 October; the Horniman advises booking ahead and there are no refunds (Horniman).

Octonauts Storytelling and Craft, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 October, four sessions a day at 10am, 11.15am, 1pm and 2.15pm, in the Pavilion near the Bandstand at the top of the Gardens. It is £8.50 per child, and each child ticket includes one adult, which is the pricing detail people get wrong. Ages 4 to 7. The story is about the crew finding a bleached coral reef, and children build a 3D reef from recyclable paper.

Voyage to the Deep, the Jules Verne exhibition in the Temporary Exhibition Gallery on the lower ground floor, runs until 1 November, 10am to 5.30pm with last entry at 4.45pm. Recommended for age 2 and up.

  • Adult £9.80
  • Child aged 3 to 16 £7
  • Family of 3, one adult, £20.20
  • Family of 4, up to two adults, £27
  • Under 3s free, members free
  • Universal Credit £2

The museum is running with phone and internet problems and is asking people to book online in advance rather than turn up.

The rest of the borough

Beckenham Place Park has published nothing for half term 2026. In past years Botton’s family funfair took over the ground opposite the mansion with a Halloween theme, free to enter and token-operated, aimed at under-11s. It ran 17 to 31 October in 2022 and 13 to 29 October in 2023, and last year the park ran free ranger-led bat walks on 28 and 29 October 2025. As of 3 October the park’s events listing still shows nothing for this autumn, so treat all of it as unconfirmed rather than expected.

The Albany in Deptford has two pay-what-you-decide items in the week: The Librarians, a family show for age 4+ in BSL and spoken English, on Tuesday 27 October at 11am at Deptford Lounge (The Albany), and Driving Home, a 15-minute pop-up installation for age 14+, from Monday 26 to Saturday 31 October (The Albany).

The Broadway Theatre in Catford hosts the Summer Reading Challenge Champions Celebration during October half term. It is invitation-only: children aged 4 to 11 who finish the challenge at a Lewisham library get a certificate, a medal and an invitation. The date has not been published.

There is no council-run Halloween event in Lewisham; the events that do exist, from a kids’ Halloween rave at the Albany to Coco and Ringu at the Telegraph Hill Centre, are on our Lewisham Halloween page. The borough’s fireworks, Blackheath Fireworks, are on Saturday 7 November, the weekend after half term, with the display at 8pm, and the Remembrance Sunday services follow on 8 November.

Getting to the Horniman

The museum has no visitor car park, beyond limited Blue Badge spaces. There is a pay-and-display car park behind Sainsbury’s nearby. It is a five to ten minute walk from Forest Hill station, and the 176, 185, 197, 356 and P4 all stop outside on London Road.

Half-term weekday parking in Forest Hill fills up around the station. Our parking in Lewisham page has the borough’s zones and charges, and the roadworks and travel page covers anything dug up on the South Circular. For the rest of the year, see things to do in Lewisham.

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