621 dated events across the North West, pulled straight from the libraries, theatres, museums, nature reserves and councils that run them. Anything that has finished drops off on its own.
A clue trail round the village aimed at 3 to 10 year olds, five pounds a map with a spooky reward at the end. Entry and parking at Blakemere are free, so this is about as cheap as a Halloween outing in Cheshire gets, provided you can steer round the shops.
Half term at the aquarium with spooky trails, activities and skeleton scuba shows in the tanks, plus the odd ghoul wandering about. Indoors and warm, which counts for a lot in the last week of October. The page prints no year, but those dates only fit this year's half term.
Half term crafts at Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts house above Windermere: tissue paper flowers every day and stamp making on 29 October. Included with house admission.
Join us and Colibri Mexican Folkdance for a vibrant celebration of life, love, and remembrance!
Dinosaur Adventure Live is an interactive stage show with realistic dinosaurs at The Brindley in Runcorn on Sunday 1 November, at 2pm and 4.30pm. Rangers try to save the island. Tickets £18.50.
An interactive outdoor art installation for half term: step through a series of mysterious doorways to find local folklore, old traditions and ghost stories. The listing gives no separate price, so assume normal Lyme admission until the National Trust says otherwise.
Spooky drop in crafts every afternoon of half term at Tullie in Carlisle, a different make each day. Children go free with an adult day ticket or annual pass.
Find nine imps and familiars hidden in Ordsall Hall and its gardens, 25 to 29 October and 1 November, during opening hours. £2 a child, paid at reception. Part of it is outdoors, so dress for the weather.
Halloween at the theme park built for the under 12s: a fancy dress street parade, Gilly's Spooky Dance Party, the Monster Mansion Mine and character meet and greets on top of the usual rides. Costumes and colour rather than jump scares, which is the right way round at that age.
Spooky World's daytime version at Apple Jacks Farm, aimed at younger children with no scare attractions. Open 10am to 4pm on selected October dates and daily in half term. £15.50 over 90cm, with a free pumpkin each.
A live Ms Rachel tribute show for toddlers at Middleton Arena on Sunday 1 November at 1pm, with sing-alongs and plenty of joining in. Under 12 months go free on a paying adult's lap. From £19.43.
Hour-long candlelit tours of the house over the last four evenings of October half term, alongside a Halloween scavenger hunt in the topiary garden, creative workshops and a costume competition. Not for under-5s, and the tour ticket does not include daytime entry.
A circus-themed half-term panto, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, at St Helens Theatre Royal from 24 October to 1 November. Two shows on the first weekend, then a 1pm matinee daily. A family ticket for four is £103.
Pick up a trail sheet and hunt down the ten Grumpy Pumpkins round the museum grounds and woodland, each guarding an ingredient the Witch of the Wood needs for her spell. It is £1 a child on top of adult admission. The same week has spooky stories for little ones on Thursday 29 October and Jack-o'-lantern light walks in the woods on the evenings of the 26th and 27th (adults £10, children £7.50).
Starts at 10am to 12pm. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Crewe Heritage Centre has Halloween fun on its half-term open days, 24 October to 1 November, 10am to 4.30pm. Wednesday 28 October is a free admission day. The 31 October weekend closes the season.
The treehouses, zip wires and wobbly bridges as normal, plus Twig or Treating with the characters, a spooky disco, face stencils and a Glowing Light Trail as the sun goes down. Open until 6pm so the light trail is the finale. A limited number of tickets carry 25% off on every date, so the first to book pay least.
The Zoo vs You Top Trumps trail round the Islands zone, pumpkin sculptures, and an exclusive card to take home for finishing, all included in an ordinary zoo ticket. Nothing extra to book and nothing that will give anyone nightmares. Face painting is the one thing charged on top.
Half term at the safari park done in Halloween dress, with the drive-through reserve and the shows running as usual underneath it. The car is the ride, which suits children who have had enough of queuing.
Halloween build challenges, glow in the dark brick workshops and the Great Monster Chase 4D film back in the cinema. The toilets there are shut for a refit until 22 October and the nearest ones are on floor 4 of the Trafford Palazzo, which is better known before than during.
Halloween crafts at Clitheroe Castle Museum: a wool castle cat for £2 or a spooky tealight holder for £3, no museum ticket needed. Drop in between 11am and 4pm, all ages.
A Halloween disco session at the trampoline and inflatable park, ninety minutes for £9.99 with grip socks extra. Fancy dress optional, long sleeves sensible.
Muncaster's big Halloween week, themed Zombies and Boggles this year: a scary maze, pumpkin patch (free pumpkin for the first 2,500 child tickets), a Halloween trail in the gardens, parades, a haunted castle, bird of prey displays and a torchlight march. The indoor Castle Show is an upgrade at £17 adult and £13 child on top.
Half term opens with a Miniature Steam Weekend, then a week of children's activities with, the museum says, a few spooky Halloween happenings. Detail was thin when we checked, so treat it as a museum day with extras.
Everything on this weekend63 more not shown here
Saturday and Sunday, wherever you are in the region.
Nothing dated here at the moment. Try everything that’s on, or the places that are open anyway.
In partnership with Triple C, Little Lambs runs on a Monday from 10.
The first of Rochdale Council's three free school-night bonfires, with a reduced-noise display set to music at 7.30pm and a funfair from 6pm. There are no toilets on site, which is the practical point that matters with small children.
Starts at 10am. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Crafts, sports, and bible-based activities for school-years 5 to 8.
Preschool Stay and Play Toddler Group for toddlers and parents/carers.
Parents and children can meet in our beautiful church hall to 'Stay and Play'!
A stay and play morning for all parents with young children in the Church lounge.
George's 'Tiny Tots' baby, toddler and carer, stay and play group.
Meet weekly during term time on a Monday.
Crafts, sports, and bible-based activities for school-years 5 to 8.
Activities and chilling out for 11's+ - sometimes meets off-site, please check.
A group for young people in Year 7 and above meets in Betley Reading Room on the 2nd and 4th Mondays, 6.
For children from reception to year 2 at primary school.
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Songs and stories for children under 5 and parents/carers.
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Relaxed and informal Stay and Play at Wigan Library.
Runs on 6 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Runs on 7 dates. Times, prices and tickets are on the organiser's own page.
Regular stories and rhymes group for children under 5 and their grown ups.
Regular story and rhyme time sessions for children under five.
A monthly story session for pre-school children in the reading corner at Rochdale Town Hall, first Monday of the month at 11am, so 2 November, 7 December and 4 January. £2.10 a child, adults free.
Join us at our weekly bounce and rhyme event.
Browse the free ones510 more not shown here
Every town with something dated coming up, busiest first.
Every event here carries a start and an end date and disappears the day after it finishes, so nothing on this page is stale. We collect them from the organisations that run them rather than charging venues to appear, which is why the free library session sits next to the big paid day out. See where every listing comes from. Times and prices still change at short notice, so check with the venue before you set off.