Half term is 26 to 30 October. Banbury Museum runs £4 crafts every weekday, Brickworks ends 1 November, and Upton House has £2 Halloween crafts.

October half term for Banbury, Bicester and Kidlington schools runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, the dates set by Oxfordshire County Council. Banbury Museum has a £4 craft session every weekday that week, its LEGO exhibition closes on the last Sunday, and Upton House, seven miles north of town, runs £2 Halloween crafts every day.

The quick answer

  • Half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October. Several Banbury secondaries also close on Friday 23 October for INSET, and the two big independents break up a week earlier.
  • Cheapest thing on: Banbury Museum crafts, £4 a child, at 10.30am and 1.30pm every weekday. Booking is essential.
  • Last chance: Brickworks, the museum’s LEGO experience, ends on Sunday 1 November.

Check your own school’s dates on our Banbury school term dates page before booking anything for the Friday before.

In Banbury town centre

Banbury Museum half term crafts, Monday 26 to Friday 30 October

A different make each day, at 10.30am and 1.30pm, for ages 3 and up, at £4.00 per child. Booking is essential, from the museum’s events page.

The museum is on Spiceball Park Road, OX16 2PQ. Entry to its permanent galleries is free, and it opens 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 3pm on Sunday, per its visitor page.

Brickworks at Banbury Museum, until Sunday 1 November

Brickworks fills the PYE Gallery with LEGO building stations, challenges, coding puzzles and models by local builders. It has run since July and closes on Sunday 1 November, the last day of half term.

  • Price: £4.00 for everyone aged 1 and over, including accompanying adults. Under-12-months and carers go free.
  • Sessions: three a day, 1 hour 30 minutes each, maximum 25 people.
  • The museum says it is “very busy” in school holidays and advises booking ahead.

The Mill Arts Centre

Two family shows sit either side of the half term week at The Mill, also on Spiceball Park Road:

  • Magic & Marvels, Saturday 24 October, 2.30pm. A one-man magic show, £16, running time 1 hour 50 minutes.
  • Hocus Pocus: Live Experience, Friday 30 October, 2.30pm. The Sanderson Sisters on stage, £16, age guidance 6+, with haze, flashing lights and “some ‘spooky’ elements”. There is £2.50 off when you book four or more.

Just after half term, Tall Stories’ Room on the Broom comes to The Mill on 7 and 8 November.

Just outside town

Upton House, Halloween nature crafts

The National Trust’s Upton House, on the A422 seven miles north of Banbury (OX15 6HT), runs Halloween nature crafts from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, 11am to 2pm. Children make a bouncing bat, a leafy jack-o’-lantern and spider-web bunting.

  • Price: £2.00 per child on top of admission. No booking needed.
  • Admission: adult £18, child (5 to 17) £9, family £45, without Gift Aid. National Trust members free.
  • Hours that week: garden 10am to 5pm, house 11am to 3.30pm.

Upton is closed on Friday 16 October, the day the independent schools break up, and again on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 November while it puts up its Christmas displays.

Fairytale Farm, Chipping Norton

Scarily Ever After runs from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November at Fairytale Farm, Southcombe, OX7 5QH. It is a puzzle trail with a Spellbook Passport, a pumpkin patch where every child gets a pumpkin, and a carving marquee. The farm says the daytime Halloween activities are included in a standard day ticket, with face painting extra.

The farm also opens every evening of half term for its illuminated evenings, and holds a ticketed Potions and Spells party on 30 and 31 October, with admission from 3pm and activities from 5pm to 7pm.

Either side of half term

  • Before: the Michaelmas Fair takes over the town centre from Wednesday 14 to Saturday 17 October, with road closures from 6am on Tuesday 13 October.
  • After: Banbury has no bonfire night display this year, but Kidlington Fireworks Night is on Thursday 5 November. Details are on our Banbury fireworks page.

Getting there

The museum and The Mill are both a short walk from Castle Quay. For car parks and prices, see parking in Banbury, and check the Banbury roadworks page before driving out to Upton or Chipping Norton.

We will add more half term events as organisers publish them. If you are running one in Banbury, Bicester or Kidlington, tell us.