Halloween near Tonbridge: Hever's trail runs 17 October to 1 November, Penshurst's 24 October to 1 November, Leybourne Lakes after dark on 24 October for £6.
Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, at the end of Kent’s half-term week, and the big Halloween programmes near Tonbridge are at the two historic houses on its doorstep. Hever Castle runs its trail every day from 17 October to 1 November, and Penshurst Place from 24 October to 1 November, both included in the normal admission. The cheapest booked event is the leisure trust’s after-dark trail at Leybourne Lakes on Saturday 24 October, £6 a child.
The quick answer
- Hever Castle: Mad Scientists Halloween trail, craft and a science show, daily 17 October to 1 November, included with admission (adult £25.50, child £14.05 online).
- Penshurst Place: Beware the Bad Apple! trail and crafts daily 24 October to 1 November, storytelling 26 to 31 October (adult £17, child £9.50 for house and gardens).
- Leybourne Lakes: after-dark pumpkin trail, Saturday 24 October, 5pm to 7pm, £6 a child, book ahead.
- Tonbridge Castle and the council’s free park trails: not announced for 2026 when we checked on 3 October. Both ran last year.
Every date and price below comes from the organiser’s own website, read on 3 October 2026.
When is half term?
Kent’s October half term is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, but five Tonbridge secondaries break up on Friday 16 October and get two weeks. Hever’s programme covers both weeks; Penshurst’s starts on the second Saturday. School by school dates are on our October half term page.
Hever Castle, 17 October to 1 November
Hever’s Halloween this year is Spooktacular Science, running daily from Saturday 17 October to Sunday 1 November, 10.30am to 4.30pm (Hever Castle). Everything is included with admission unless marked:
| Activity | Where | When | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mad Scientists Halloween Trail | Grounds | Daily, trail closes 4pm | Included |
| Mad Scientist Goggles craft | Garden Exhibition | Daily, 11am to 4pm | Included |
| Dr Frankenstein’s Science Adventure Show | Think Tank | 11.30am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 3pm | Included |
| Halloween face painting | Garden Exhibition | 17 to 18, 22 to 25 and 29 to 31 October, noon to 4pm | £6 a child |
The trail hides letters among scenes of mad scientists at work. Solve the word and the Information Hut hands over a bag of sweets. Face painting is first come, first served: book a slot with the painter, pay in the Courtyard Shop and come back at your time.
Admission, from Hever’s prices page on 3 October:
| Ticket | Castle and gardens, online | Gardens only, online | Castle and gardens, on the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | £25.50 | £19.95 | £28.40 |
| Child, 5 to 17 | £14.05 | £12.50 | £15.60 |
| Under 5 | Free | Free | Free |
| Family (2 adults and up to 3 children) | £66.60 | £54.65 | £74.00 |
Booking online saves about 10%, so a family of five pays £7.40 less by booking ahead (Hever Castle prices). The trail is in the grounds, so a gardens-only ticket covers it. Hever is near Edenbridge, about nine miles west of Tonbridge.
Penshurst Place, 24 October to 1 November
Penshurst Place, about four miles south west of Tonbridge, runs three Halloween strands (Penshurst Place):
- Beware the Bad Apple! Halloween Trail, daily from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, 10am to 5pm. The story is twin brothers Fergus Fang and Frightful Fred, and children search the grounds for the ingredients of a not-quite-deadly poison apple potion.
- Halloween crafts in The Old Coach House, the same dates, 11am to 3.30pm.
- Halloween storytelling, panto-style and “not too scary”, in the Garden Room from Monday 26 to Saturday 31 October, at 11.15am, noon, 12.45pm, 2pm and 2.45pm.
The listing gives no separate charge for any of the three, so the cost is the day’s admission. 2026 prices: house, gardens and grounds £17 an adult and £9.50 a child aged 5 to 15, family of four £48; gardens and grounds only £15 and £9, family £45. Two under-fives go free with each paying adult, then £2.50 each (Penshurst Place prices).
Time it carefully. Penshurst’s house, gardens and grounds are open daily until Sunday 1 November, the last day of the trail, and then close for the season (opening times).
The weekend before, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, is Penshurst’s first Apple Weekend, with children’s crafts, apple pressing and tastings, included in admission.
Leybourne Lakes after dark, 24 October
The borough’s leisure trust, tmactive, runs a Spooky Halloween Trail at Leybourne Lakes Country Park on Saturday 24 October, between 5pm and 7pm in five time slots. It is a pumpkin trail round the lakes in the dark: follow the arrows, solve the clues and collect a trick-or-treat prize at the end. £6 a child, spaces limited, meet outside the cafe, and bring a torch. Costumes are encouraged (tmactive).
Pumpkin picking
The nearest pick-your-own patch with dates on its own website is Loddington Farm, Loddington Lane, Linton ME17 4AG, south of Maidstone and about 12 miles from Tonbridge. It is run with Blooming Green, opens from 17 October and runs to 31 October, 10am to 4pm, with tickets at £1 a person booked online, games, a flower safari and food trucks at weekends (Loddington Farm). The farm’s page does not print the year, but it is headed “open from 17th of October” and “half term fun”, which fits 2026’s half term. Pumpkins are paid for on top of the ticket.
In Tonbridge itself
- SEN Halloween Bounce, Angel Centre, Friday 30 October, 10.30am to noon: a Halloween bouncy castle session for children with special educational needs and disabilities, £7.10 or £5.20 with a leisure pass, booked on 01732 359966 (tmactive).
- Tonbridge Castle artisan market, Sunday 25 October, 10am to 4pm, free (Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council).
- Tonbridge Fireworks, Sunday 1 November, the day after Halloween. The Round Table has billed it as a Halloween themed show. Gates 5pm, display 6.30pm, advance tickets £11 and £7 until 23 October: see our fireworks page.
Is Tonbridge Castle doing Halloween this year?
Not announced yet. Last October the council ran Pumpkins and Pixie Dust, a ticketed theatrical trail through the castle for 3 to 8 year olds, from 18 to 26 October 2025, and three free self-led Halloween trails from 18 October to 2 November 2025 at Haysden Country Park, the Racecourse Sportsground and the Woodland Walk from Higham Lane to Frogsbridge Sportsground, with worksheets from the noticeboards (Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council).
On 3 October 2026 neither the council’s events page nor the castle’s own listed a 2026 Halloween event: the only October items were Oktoberfest on 23 and 24 October and the artisan market. The 2025 trails page is still up with last year’s dates. We will update this page when the 2026 programme appears.
Parking and getting there
Penshurst and Hever are country houses best reached by car from Tonbridge; check each house’s own visit page for parking before you go.
In Tonbridge, the council car parks charge 8am to 8pm every day. No trains run between Tonbridge and Wadhurst for nine days from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, so anyone coming up from the Hastings line for the half-term events will be on replacement buses (rail closures page). The car parks and tariffs are in our parking guide; rail replacement and road closures are on the roadworks and travel page.
Still to be confirmed
- Tonbridge Castle’s 2026 Halloween event and the council’s free park trails: expected on tmbc.gov.uk/events in October.
Frequently asked questions
What is on for Halloween near Tonbridge in 2026?
Hever Castle’s Mad Scientists trail runs daily from 17 October to 1 November, Penshurst Place’s Beware the Bad Apple! trail from 24 October to 1 November, and tmactive’s after-dark trail at Leybourne Lakes is on Saturday 24 October. Tonbridge’s fireworks, with a Halloween theme, are on Sunday 1 November.
Is the Hever Castle Halloween trail extra?
No. The trail, the goggles craft and the science show are included with admission. Only face painting, £6 a child on selected dates, costs extra.
Are the Tonbridge Halloween trails on this year?
The council’s free trails at Haysden, the Racecourse Sportsground and the Woodland Walk ran from 18 October to 2 November 2025. A 2026 version had not been announced on 3 October.
Where can I pick pumpkins near Tonbridge?
Loddington Farm at Linton, near Maidstone, opens its pick-your-own patch from 17 to 31 October, 10am to 4pm, with £1 entry tickets.
Sources
Hever’s programme, times and face-painting dates are from Halloween Half Term Fun 2026 and admission from its prices page. Penshurst’s events are from its events and activities page, with prices and the 1 November closing from its admission and opening times pages. The Leybourne Lakes trail and the SEN bounce are from tmactive’s October holiday programme. Pumpkin picking is from Loddington Farm. The 2025 council trails, the castle’s 2025 event and the 2026 October listings are from Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s events pages and tonbridgecastle.org. All read on 3 October 2026.
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