Halloween in Cornwall is a good excuse for a trip, with pumpkin patches, a haunted jail, a fungi-themed Eden Project and a few events that are definitely not for children. This is my guide to what is on this year, who each event suits, and a little of the Cornish history behind the date. Halloween falls on Saturday 31 October 2026, and the half-term week runs either side of it, so book ahead where you can and check each venue before you set off.
What are the best Halloween events in Cornwall?
The biggest family event is Halloweden at the Eden Project, which runs from 24 October to 1 November, 10am to 5pm, and is included in your admission. Eden recommends pre-booking. Inside you will find the Freaky Fungi Trail, which runs daily through the gardens with clues to gather and a seasonal keepsake to craft at the end, and the Glow Room, an ultraviolet fungi experience open daily from 10:30am to 4:30pm. The Halloween band The Scarecrows play at 11am, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm. On Saturday 31 October, Biome BOOgie takes over the Mediterranean Biome from 12 to 4pm with costume fun, face painting, games and live music. The ice rink is open daily but costs extra, and you need valid Eden admission to skate.
For something with a bit more history, Bodmin Jail on Berrycoombe Road runs its Haunted Gallery throughout October, and the Trick or Treat Activity Trail from 17 to 31 October, with a free reward from the gift shop at the end. There are also ghost tours, spooky sleepovers and supernatural encounters this year.
Near Saltash, the Cornish Maize Maze and Fun Farm at Smeaton Farm, Pillaton, hosts the Halloween Maze of Horrors on Saturday 31 October only, with scare actors and live performers along the route, then a barbecue and live entertainment. The same farm runs pumpkin picking and a short Halloween maze every day from 24 to 31 October.
Where can we go pumpkin picking in Cornwall?
Trevaskis Farm near Hayle is the simplest option. It is a pick-your-own farm with free entry, you pay only for the pumpkins you pick, priced by size, and there is a farm shop, restaurant and cafe on site.
Splattenridden Farm, also near Hayle, offers pumpkin picking too. At the Cornish Maize Maze and Fun Farm in Saltash the pumpkin patch is open at weekends through October and daily during half term, alongside a maze of more than three miles and a short Halloween maze and quiz.
If you are travelling from the east, Pumpkin Fest at Strawberry Fields Farm Shop in Lifton is just over the Devon border, with thousands of home-grown pumpkins and a maze.
What is there to do at Halloween with younger children?
Trerice, the National Trust house at Kestle Mill near Newquay, runs Halloween fun from 26 to 31 October, with dress-up dragon activities including storytelling and a dragon school, with Elizabethan gardens and orchards to explore as well.
In Falmouth, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall has its Nautical Nasties sea monster exhibition on all half-term week, and on Saturday 31 October there is Cornish mythical storytelling, potion-making and a craft session making a trick-or-treat bag. Up the hill, Pendennis Castle has spooky tales and games, and visitors are invited to come in costume.
Near St Austell, Wheal Martyn has a spooky trail through half term, plus themed pottery painting and mask-making workshops at the china clay heritage site. At Healeys Cyder Farm near Truro there is a haunted tractor ride to the pumpkin patch during half term only, and you can pick a pumpkin to carve in the workshop.
What Halloween events are there for adults?
The Halloween Maze of Horrors in Saltash is the obvious one, with its scare actors and live performers, and Bodmin Jail’s ghost tours, spooky sleepovers and supernatural encounters are the other obvious choice.
Helston Railway runs special Halloween evening trains from Trevarno Farm on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October. It is the most southerly railway in the UK, run by volunteers, with spooky decorations, pumpkins and costumes on board.
Two events from 2024 are worth watching for next time. The Dark Gathering in Tintagel is a ticketed gothic and folklore evening held on the Saturday before Halloween, which has run since 2014 and encourages costumes, and Scare Asylum at Raise the Roof in Penryn is a live scare maze with actors for over 16s only.
Does Cornwall have its own Halloween traditions?
It does. In Cornwall the date is Allantide, held on the night of 31 October and the day after. The Cornish name is Kalan Gwav, which means the first day of winter, and it was also the feast day of St Allan, a sixth-century bishop of Quimper. The name appears in a record from Lelant as far back as 1572.
The tradition I like best is the Allan apple, a large, highly polished red apple given to family and friends as a token of good luck. Apple markets were held across West Cornwall before the feast. In Penzance around 1800 every family member got one, and older girls put theirs under their pillows hoping to dream of a future husband. In St Ives, children were given them and thought it unlucky to go to bed without one.
There were games and fortune-telling too. In Penzance, apples were hung beneath a candlelit wooden cross and players tried to catch them in their mouths, with hot wax as the penalty for being slow. Walnuts thrown into the fire were said to predict whether a partner would stay faithful, and molten lead poured into cold water was read for a future husband’s trade. In some parts of Cornwall, bonfires called Tindle fires were lit, and church bells were rung and candles lit to comfort souls.
Where should we stay for Halloween?
Half term and Halloween fall in the same week this year, so places fill up. My guide to the best places to stay in Cornwall is a good place to start, and the live map below shows what is available for your dates.
Where do we park?
Most of the venues above have their own car parks, but check before you travel, especially for evening events. For parking in the towns, see my guide to the best places to park in Cornwall.
What else is there to do at half term?
If you are here for the whole week, I have a separate guide to everything else on offer, from museums to autumn walks. See my half term in Cornwall guide.
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