Halloween near Harrogate: pumpkin picking at Birchfield, Stockeld and Ripon, Frightwater Valley from £18, and fireworks at 5pm on Saturday 31 October.

Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, at the end of half term, and the Harrogate district has more on than in most years. Three farms and gardens have pumpkins to pick, Lightwater Valley near Ripon runs its Frightwater Valley event, and on Halloween itself Lightwater ends its season with fireworks at 5pm. This page lists each event with the dates, times and prices its organiser has published, all checked on 3 October 2026. Where a price only appears inside a booking system, we say so.

The quick answer

  • Pumpkin picking: open now. Birchfield Farm at Summerbridge is open now, free to enter the patch, with pumpkins at £2.50 to £15. Stockeld Park’s patch opens with its Halloween event on Saturday 3 October. Ripon Walled Garden’s free charity patch runs from 17 to 31 October.
  • The big family event: Frightwater Valley at Lightwater Valley, on 10 and 17 October, then daily 24 to 31 October, 10.30am to 5pm. Early bird tickets are £18 with the code FRIGHT18.
  • On Halloween night, Saturday 31 October: Lightwater Valley’s 10-minute firework display at 5pm over Swan Lake, included with the day ticket, weather permitting.
  • Half term is 26 to 30 October for council schools. Mother Shipton’s, Harlow Carr and Stockeld all run daily from 24 October to 1 November.
  • Not yet announced: Harrogate BID’s town centre Halloween trail. It ran in 2025, and nothing has been published for 2026 yet.
Event Where Dates Price
Birchfield Pumpkin Festival Summerbridge, HG3 4JS Open now, to 31 October Patch free; pumpkins £2.50 to £15
Halloween at Stockeld Park Near Wetherby, LS22 4AN October weekends; daily 24 October to 1 November £12.75 to £29.50
Frightwater Valley Lightwater Valley, HG4 3HT 10, 17 and 24 to 31 October Early bird £18
Ripon Walled Garden pumpkin patch Palace Road, Ripon, HG4 3HN 17 to 31 October Free entry
Hocus Pocus Halloween Mother Shipton’s, Knaresborough 24 October to 1 November Booking system only
Spooky plant trail RHS Harlow Carr, HG3 1QB 24 October to 1 November Garden admission
Fountains by Floodlight Fountains Abbey, HG4 3DY Eight evenings, 9 to 30 October Adults £12, children £6
Ghost hunting Workhouse Museum, Ripon Thursday 29 October £2 a child
Firework finale Lightwater Valley Saturday 31 October, 5pm With Frightwater ticket

Pumpkin picking

Birchfield Pumpkin Festival, Summerbridge

Birchfield Farm in Nidderdale grows its own pumpkins, more than 40 varieties, and you pick them straight from the field. The patch is free to enter; pumpkins cost £2.50 to £15 depending on size, and there are wheelbarrows to carry them and a barrel ride round the field. General farm admission, which the farm lists separately from the free patch, is £8.95 for adults and children aged 2 to 16, with under-2s free and free parking.

The farm posts its opening days one week at a time. This weekend it is open 10am to 4pm on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October; it was closed on weekdays this week. Check the opening hours before a weekday trip. Wear wellies: the farm says “mud isn’t optional”. Address: Birchfield Farm, Summerbridge, HG3 4JS (contact page).

Halloween at Stockeld Park, near Wetherby

Stockeld Park is open for Halloween on 3 to 4, 10 to 11 and 17 to 18 October, then every day from 24 October to 1 November, from 9.30am to 5.30pm. A tractor and trailer takes you to its pumpkin patch, which this year is grown on the estate. Pumpkins cost extra: the park says “a small charge” and does not publish the price. The ticket also covers a witches’ trail through the Enchanted Forest and the Mummy Maze.

Its prices page lists Halloween tickets from £12.75 to £29.50 per person, with Zombie Laser Tag an extra £5.50. Face painting is £6, and there is a costume competition on the forecourt at 4.45pm every day. The prices page gives daily opening “from 19 Oct”; the event page says 24 October. If you plan a weekday visit between 19 and 23 October, check before you go.

Pumpkin Nights, new this year, are evenings at the patch on Saturday 17 and Saturday 24 October, 5.30pm to 9pm, with live music, food stalls and games. Tickets are £15, or half price with a day ticket.

Ripon Walled Garden pumpkin patch

Ripon Community Link runs a pumpkin patch at the walled garden on Palace Road, Ripon, HG4 3HN, from Saturday 17 to Saturday 31 October. Entry is free, you can carve your pumpkin there, and costumes are welcome. The café serves hot chocolate and Halloween cake. All the money raised goes to the charity’s work with adults with learning disabilities. The garden’s opening times are 9.30am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sundays.

Frightwater Valley, Lightwater Valley

Lightwater Valley, at North Stainley just north of Ripon (HG4 3HT), runs Frightwater Valley: Movie Mayhem from 10.30am to 5pm. The park’s opening calendar shows it open on Saturday 10 October, Saturday 17 October, and every day from Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October. It is closed on the other October days. One line on the event page says the daily run starts on the 23rd, but the calendar and the booking dates both start on the 24th.

The theme this year is films. There is an “Icon Avenue” of movie characters to meet, soft play with Halloween lighting, and a ten-stop trick or treat trail, which costs extra. There is also a live scare maze that the park calls “not for the faint-hearted”, a Dead Pirate Show, and a dance party with DJ Scream to finish. The park publishes only its early bird price: £18 a person with the code FRIGHT18. Parking is free, with blue badge bays near the entrance. Tickets are not refunded for bad weather, according to the park’s FAQs.

Halloween night: Saturday 31 October

The one Halloween-night display we can find is Lightwater Valley’s End of Season Firework Finale. It is a 10-minute display over Swan Lake, set to Halloween music, starting at 5pm. It is included with a Frightwater Valley ticket, and the park says it depends on the weather. Birchfield’s and Ripon Walled Garden’s patches close for the year that day. Stockeld, Mother Shipton’s and Harlow Carr stay open until Sunday 1 November.

The district’s bonfire displays come the following weekend: Ripon on Friday 6 November and the Stray on Saturday 7 November. See our fireworks page.

Hocus Pocus Halloween at Mother Shipton’s, Knaresborough

Mother Shipton’s runs Halloween from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, with a Hocus Pocus theme. Expect witches’ displays and cauldrons, a “witchy sister trio” to meet, marshmallow toasting round the fire, and the mile-long walk beside the River Nidd. Booking is essential. Tickets are for timed slots, with a £1.50 booking fee per order. Dogs on leads are allowed everywhere except the adventure playground and the shop.

Ticket prices appear only inside the booking system, not on the event page. There are two kinds: a car ticket with parking, and a cheaper pedestrian ticket without. Pedestrians use the nearest car park, Conyngham Hall, which the attraction says is a two-minute walk. The only entrance and exit is on High Bridge, and tickets cannot be refunded or transferred.

Spooky plants at RHS Harlow Carr

RHS Harlow Carr, on Crag Lane, runs a Halloween trail from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, 9.30am to 4pm daily. It covers “scary-looking species”, plants with legendary healing powers and poisonous plants, with rubbings to collect and a spooky plant to design. It is included in garden admission, which is free for RHS members and under-5s.

ZooLab potion sessions with snakes, snails and spiders run daily from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, at 11am, 12 noon, 1.15pm and 2.15pm. They cost £2.50 per child or adult and are booked online. On Wednesday 28 October there is a free drop-in session, 11am to 3pm, for planting seeds in a monster pot.

Ghost hunting at Ripon Workhouse Museum

On Thursday 29 October, Ripon Museums runs family ghost hunts round the Workhouse Museum (HG4 1LE). Sessions run from 11am to 12 noon and 1.30pm to 2.30pm, with ghost goo to make, a spooky story and ghouls to find. There is no need to book. It costs £2 a child on the day, or nothing with an annual pass. Children must come with an adult, and the museum suggests ages 5 and up. The same week, on Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 October, the Workhouse kitchen bakes spooky shortbread, 10.30am to 3pm.

For grown-ups: Fountains by Floodlight

Fountains Abbey is not a Halloween event, but the National Trust’s Fountains by Floodlight runs through October. The dates are Friday 9 and Saturday 10, Friday 16 and Saturday 17, Friday 23 and Saturday 24, and Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October. Entry is from 5pm, last entry 8pm, in half-hour slots. Tickets are £12 for adults and £6 for children aged 5 to 17. Members go free but must still book. Parking and entry are at the visitor centre.

Harrogate town centre: trail not yet announced

Harrogate BID ran a free Halloween Monster Trail in half term 2025, from Saturday 25 October to Saturday 1 November. Trail sheets went to 10 shops and venues and back to The Crown Hotel for a prize. The BID says more than 10,000 people did it (BID, 5 November 2025). As of 3 October 2026 the BID has announced nothing for this Halloween. Last year’s trail was announced on 7 October. We will add it here if it runs.

Getting there

For car parks and charges in town, see parking in Harrogate. For road closures and works, see Harrogate roadworks and travel. Lightwater Valley and Birchfield both have free parking. At Mother Shipton’s, only car tickets include a space. Our October half term page has the school dates and the rail engineering works on both half-term weekends.

Still to be confirmed

  • Harrogate BID’s town centre Halloween trail for 2026.
  • Ticket prices for Mother Shipton’s Halloween, and Frightwater Valley’s standard price once the early bird offer ends.
  • Birchfield’s opening days after this weekend, which the farm publishes a week at a time.