Camden's October half term is 26 to 30 October 2026. Free Diwali on Cromer Street, Mail Rail puppets, Day of the Dead at Camden Market and more, checked.
October half term in Camden is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, from the council’s term dates page. Some schools run it a day longer, so check yours. Below are the things actually on in the borough that week, each read from the organiser’s own listing on 25 September. Most are free, and the last weekend is the busiest: a Diwali street festival on Cromer Street on Saturday 31 October and Day of the Dead at Camden Market on Sunday 1 November.
The quick answer
- Half term: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Camden School for Girls is off until Monday 2 November, and Eleanor Palmer Primary has an INSET day that Monday.
- Free and big: Diwali on Cromer Street, Sat 31 October, noon to 6pm; Day of the Dead at Camden Market, Sun 1 November, 1pm to 7pm.
- Every day: the Postal Museum’s half-term programme, 26 October to 1 November, included in the museum ticket.
Updated 3 October: added Día de Muertos at Canopy Market, King’s Cross (23 to 25 October, free) and Halloween face painting at Holborn Library on 31 October; everything Halloween is now on our Camden Halloween page. The Foundling Museum still lists no half-term workshops.
Which schools are off when
The council’s dates cover the schools it maintains. Academies set their own, and every school picks its own training days. Our Camden school term dates page checked nine schools’ calendars; the two that differ in October are:
| School | October break |
|---|---|
| Camden Council (maintained schools) | Mon 26 to Fri 30 October |
| Camden School for Girls | Mon 26 October to Mon 2 November |
| Eleanor Palmer Primary | Mon 26 to Fri 30 October, plus INSET day Mon 2 November |
The next break is Christmas: the council’s dates are Monday 21 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027, with the spring term starting on Monday 4 January.
What’s on, day by day
| Day | What | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 26 Oct to Sun 1 Nov | Half-term programme: shadow puppet workshop, Mail Rail, Jolly Postman exhibition | Postal Museum, WC1X | In museum ticket |
| All week | Kenwood House and grounds, 10am to 4pm (house) | Hampstead Lane, NW3 | Free |
| Mon to Sat, to 31 Oct | Portrait(s) of Camden community quilt; Home Truths exhibition | Holborn Library, WC1X | Free |
| Wed 28 Oct, 7.30pm | Red River: songs and stories of refuge | SOAS, WC1B | £6 to £20 |
| Thu 29 Oct, 11.30am | Gruffalo Granny story time | Holborn Library | Free, just turn up |
| Thu 29 Oct, 1pm | New Wave Music: Let There Be Light | The Music Room, 49 Great Ormond Street | Free, just turn up |
| Thu 29 Oct, 4pm | Autumn indoor gardening workshop | Holborn Library | Free, must book |
| Fri 30 Oct, 1pm | Thinkers, Makers and Scribblers walk three | From Holborn Library | £10 |
| Fri 30 Oct | Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery opens | British Library, NW1 | From £20 |
| Fri 30 Oct, 9pm | Nosferatu (1922) with live organ | Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church | £15 |
| Sat 31 Oct, noon | Diwali festival outdoors | Cromer Street and Bramber Green, WC1H | Free |
| Sat 31 Oct, 2pm | AKDC Diwali takeover: Kuchipudi dance | Holy Cross Church, 98 Cromer Street | Free |
| Sat 31 Oct, 4pm | Organ recital | Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church | Free |
| Sun 1 Nov, 1pm | Día de los Muertos | Camden Market Hawley Wharf | Free |
The Postal Museum, all week
The Postal Museum’s October half-term page runs Monday 26 October to Sunday 1 November. The family activity is Make Your Own Shadow Puppet, a drop-in from 10am to 4pm in the Mail Rail depot using Faber-Castell materials, then a shadow theatre to perform in. Places go first come, first served, and every child must be with an adult. Children are invited to come dressed as a spooky fairy-tale character.
The same ticket covers a ride on Mail Rail and The Jolly Postman exhibition. From the tickets page: £20.50 adult, £11 child (2 to 17), under-2s free. The Sorted! play space for under-8s is separate at £5 a child and £2.50 an adult. The museum normally opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, with the last Mail Rail ride at 4pm, so confirm the Monday when you book.
Bloomsbury Festival’s last week
The festival runs to 31 October and its final week falls in half term. From the festival’s own event pages:
- Gruffalo Granny story time, Thursday 29 October, 11.30am to 12.30pm, Holborn Library, 32 to 38 Theobalds Road. Free, just turn up. It marks the new Gruffalo book, published on 10 September.
- Autumn indoor gardening workshop, Thursday 29 October, 4pm to 6pm, Holborn Library. Save and package seeds and plant a pot to take home. Free, but you must book.
- Diwali festival outdoors, Saturday 31 October, noon to 6pm, on Cromer Street and Bramber Green, with music, food and Bollywood. Free.
- AKDC Diwali takeover, Saturday 31 October, 2pm to 4pm, Holy Cross Church, 98 Cromer Street. A participatory Kuchipudi dance afternoon. Free.
- Nosferatu (1922) with live organ improvisation, Friday 30 October, 9pm to 10.30pm, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue. £15. A late one for older teenagers and adults.
- Organ recital on the church’s Binns organ, Saturday 31 October, 4pm to 5.15pm. Free.
- Red River, Wednesday 28 October, 7.30pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street. Indian and Bangladeshi music with readings. £20, £12 or £6.
- Thinkers, Makers and Scribblers, walk three, Friday 30 October, 1pm to 2.15pm, starting at Holborn Library. £10.
On the Saturday before half term, 24 October, the festival’s free Discovery Hub runs at Holborn Library from 11am to 4pm, and there is free brass in Russell Square from 2pm. More on the whole festival is on our Bloomsbury Festival page.
Agatha Christie at the British Library
The British Library’s Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery opens on Friday 30 October and runs to 20 June 2027. Weekend and bank holiday tickets are £25; weekday off-peak tickets start at £20 until 21 February. Concessions cover children under 16, 16 to 25 year olds, students, disabled people and carers. Households on Universal Credit or Pension Credit can visit for £3 each, up to four people, at off-peak times.
Day of the Dead at Camden Market
Camden Market’s Día de los Muertos is on Sunday 1 November, 1pm to 7pm, at Hawley Wharf. Free, with live music, mariachi bands, dance and family activities. The market says details are on its Eventbrite page.
Kenwood
Kenwood is free and open daily through half term: the house 10am to 4pm and the grounds 7am to 4pm from Monday 26 October. There are no special events listed that week. Our Kenwood winter page has the hours through to March and the December Father Christmas dates.
Halloween
Halloween is Saturday 31 October, the last day of the break. The weekend before half term, King’s Cross’s autumn events page has MexiBrit’s Día de Muertos at Canopy Market, West Handyside Canopy, from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October (Friday 12pm to 8pm, weekend 11am to 6pm), free to enter, with mariachi, a procession and a community ofrenda. On Halloween itself the Bloomsbury Festival runs free face painting for 5 to 12 year olds at Holborn Library, 2pm to 4pm; book a place, though walk-ins are taken if there is room. The full list, including the grown-up events, is on our Camden Halloween page.
Still to be confirmed
- The Foundling Museum’s half-term workshops. Its what’s on page had no October half-term dates on 25 September; it usually runs artist-led family workshops in school holidays.
- The British Museum’s October half-term family programme. Its events page blocked our checks on 25 September.
- Camden Libraries’ own half-term activities, not yet listed.
The Thursday after half term, 5 November, Coram’s Fields holds the borough’s free display: see our Camden fireworks page. For getting around, our Camden roadworks page lists closures and our parking in Camden page covers pay-to-park.
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