Halloween in Reading: four pumpkin patches from £6.50, a free Broad Street Mall party on 24 Oct, a river disco and ghost walks on 31 Oct. Dates and prices.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, 31 October 2026, at the end of Reading’s October half term (Monday 26 to Friday 30 October). The big family draws are outside the town: four pumpkin patches and farm parks within about 20 minutes’ drive, all open through half term and all asking you to book. In town there is a free Halloween party at Broad Street Mall on Saturday 24 October, and a cluster of events on the 31st itself.

The quick answer

  • Free in town: Broad Street Beats at Broad Street Mall, Saturday 24 October, 11am to 3pm: live music, face painting and a trick-or-treat bag workshop.
  • Pumpkin picking: Wasing (Aldermaston), Hallcourt Farm (Midgham), Beale Wildlife Park (Lower Basildon) and Wellington Country Park (Riseley). Tickets from £6.50, and pumpkins are always extra.
  • On the night: a free Halloween market at the Reading Biscuit Factory, a family disco cruise from Caversham Pier and an adults’ ghost walk, all on Saturday 31 October.

Every listing below was checked on 3 October 2026 against the organiser’s own page, or against the organiser’s own entry on What’s On Reading, the council’s listings service. Ticket prices can change, so check the link before you go.

In Reading town centre

Broad Street Beats: Halloween, Broad Street Mall, Saturday 24 October, 11am to 3pm. Free. The mall’s Halloween music day has live sets from Burghfield Uncommon, CountryLee Music, Graham Hornby, Purple Roots and Franssens, hosted by MC Paul Metcalfe with The Rhoom Studios. There is a free trick-or-treat tote bag workshop, free face painting, a Halloween music bingo quiz at lunchtime and spot prizes for costumes (Broad Street Mall).

Reading Museum’s Pumpkin Trail, Blagrave Street, Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October. A trail featuring Silly Squirrel runs all half term at £1.50, pay on the day. Entry to the museum is free, and it opens on Monday 26 October, a day it is normally shut (Reading Museum). The full museum programme is on our Reading October half term page.

Halloween Teddy Bear Sleepover, Battle Library, Thursday 29 October, 4pm to 5pm. Free, but the sleepover needs booking: children bring a teddy, make a door hanger and hear a scary story, then collect the teddy and a goody bag the next morning. The other free library crafts that week, including spooky bookmarks at Palmer Park Library, are on the half term page (Reading Libraries).

Pumpkin patches near Reading

All four need booking in advance for a timed slot or a day ticket. None includes the pumpkin itself in the ticket price.

Where Open Tickets What you get
Wasing Estate, Aldermaston RG7 4NG 16 to 18 and 23 to 31 Oct £6.50 to £7.50 (2+), plus 50p booking fee; under 2s free Decorated woodland trail, pumpkin patch, pumpkin carriage, food tent
Hallcourt Farm, Midgham RG7 5TX Opens Sat 17 Oct, selected dates to Sat 31 Oct £6.50 weekdays, £7 weekends; under 2s free; 30p fee per ticket plus 1.5% Pumpkin picking, half-kilometre woodland walk, carving and painting in the barn
Beale Wildlife Park, Lower Basildon RG8 9NW 17 to 18 and 24 to 31 Oct (patch) Included in park admission: adults £17.50 in advance Halloween woodland walk, maize maze, pumpkin patch, £1 Halloween trail
Wellington Country Park, Riseley RG7 1SP 23 to 31 Oct, 9.30am to 4.30pm On the park’s booking page Circus shows, silent disco, pumpkin carving, animal encounters

Wasing. The estate grows its own organic pumpkins, and the trail runs through its woodland to the patch, where there is a life-size pumpkin carriage, a witch’s apothecary and face painting. Parking is free. Wasing says the event “sells out each year”, so book early (Wasing Estate; prices from the estate’s What’s On Reading listing).

Hallcourt Farm, just off the A4 near Woolhampton, is in its fourth pumpkin season. It is the only one of the four to include pumpkin carving and painting in the ticket; the farm supplies tools and washable paints in a Halloween-themed barn. Pumpkins start at £1. Dogs on leads are allowed only on the two dog-friendly days, Sunday 25 and Wednesday 28 October. The farm warns that the trail is unpaved, bumpy and steep, so wellies beat a pushchair. Parking and wheelbarrows are free (Hallcourt Farm).

Beale Wildlife Park. The Pumpkin Patch is included in normal admission and free for members. Beale’s page gives the patch dates as 17 to 18 and 24 to 31 October, but also says it is open 10am to 3pm across half term “from Saturday 24th October to Sunday 1st November”, so check before planning a visit on 1 November. Half term extras every day from 24 October to 1 November: spooky crafts 11am to 2pm, a mini-beasts session at 2pm and a £1 Halloween trail (Beale Wildlife Park). Advance tickets are £17.50 adults, £15.50 children, £16.50 seniors and £56 for a family of two adults and two children, with £2 more on the day (Beale tickets).

Wellington Country Park. Hallo’Welly’Ween is in its 13th year. Each day has three circus shows in the big top (11am, 1pm and 3pm), family discos and shows in the white marquee, a silent disco, a spooky train ride (£1 a person) and pumpkin carving or decorating on the Main Green. Pumpkins are sold by size outside Main Reception. The park warns that sound, lighting and special effects run throughout, so anyone sensitive to those should call ahead (Wellington Country Park).

Half term on the water

Matilda Too Halloween cruises, Burghfield Bridge RG30 3RB, on various dates and times through half term. The trips last 35 minutes on the Kennet and Avon Canal from beside the Cunning Man, on a boat dressed for Halloween. Adults £6, children 3 and over £4 (Matilda Too listing).

On Halloween itself, Saturday 31 October

  • Reading Alternative Halloween Market, Reading Biscuit Factory, 1 Queens Walk RG1 7QE, 10.30am to 4.30pm. Free entry. Stalls selling art, jewellery, resin art, crystals and Wiccan items, with tarot readings and photos with a Halloween icon (Reading Alternative Market).
  • Family Halloween Disco cruise, Thames RiverCruise from Caversham Pier RG1 8BD, sailings at 11.30am and 2pm. A 90-minute disco cruise on the Thames, with fancy dress encouraged. Adults £17, children £13, online booking only; boarding starts 15 minutes before departure (Thames RiverCruise).
  • Ghosts of Reading Past, 3.30pm. An adults’ ghost walk of 2km and about an hour, step-free, led by drag performers Big Jay and Philli Mi Up with a ghost hunter, covering unsolved murders, pirates and royalty. £10 plus an 84p booking fee (Iota).

The council’s Halloween in Reading page also lists the evening club nights and cabaret on 30 and 31 October, at SUB89, South Street, the Rising Sun Arts Centre and The Butler.

Getting there

All four pumpkin patches have free on-site parking. For trips into town on the 24th or the 31st, see parking in Reading for car park prices and Reading roadworks and travel for closures that week.

Still to confirm

  • Hallcourt Farm’s exact open days. The farm says it opens on 17 October and runs “on selected dates” to 31 October; the dates are on its ticket page.
  • Wellington Country Park’s ticket prices, which are shown only on its booking page.
  • More events. Venues keep adding Halloween listings in October. We will check again before half term and add them here.