Half term runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October in North Yorkshire this year, and Halloween falls on the Saturday at the end of it. So the week runs from three mornings of workshops in town to the last day of the pumpkins on Halloween itself.
Checked 5 October 2026 against each organiser's own page. Most of what is below is on what's on in Thirsk, and we're at 87 Market Place, on the square.
The week, day by day
| Day | What's on |
|---|---|
| Fri 23 Oct | Shaun the Sheep at the Ritz starts its week |
| Sat 24 Oct | Pumpkin festival every day from now to Halloween |
| Sun 25 Oct | Clocks go back. Family Pumpkin Night at Monk Park Farm |
| Tue 27 Oct | Rural Arts: make your own ceramic dragon (sold out when we checked on 18 October) |
| Wed 28 Oct | Rural Arts: magical broomsticks wire art |
| Thu 29 Oct | Rural Arts: 3D alien masks. Last day of Shaun the Sheep |
| Sat 31 Oct | Halloween. Last day of the pumpkins |
Three mornings at Rural Arts
Rural Arts at The Courthouse, five minutes from the square on Westgate, runs three half-term workshops for children: a ceramic dragon on Tuesday 27 (sold out when we checked on 18 October), wire-art broomsticks on Wednesday 28 and 3D alien masks on Thursday 29. Each is a one-off, so a child can do one or all three, and they are booked ahead through Rural Arts.
A Halloween film at the Ritz
The Ritz, the volunteer-run cinema on Westgate, shows Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, rated U, from Friday 23 to Thursday 29 October. It is a Halloween story, about a ruined pumpkin patch and a beast in the woods, with evening shows and weekend matinees.
Pumpkins and a trail
Monk Park Farm's pumpkin festival, ten minutes' drive away, is open every day from Saturday 24 October to Halloween, with the Family Pumpkin Night on Sunday 25. Further out near Bedale, Thorp Perrow's Halloween trail runs to Sunday 1 November.
The week after half term is Bonfire Night, and we have put the four displays near Thirsk together.
Getting around
Rural Arts and the Ritz are both on foot from the square, five minutes at most. The farm and Thorp Perrow need a car, or a taxi from the rank by the clock; our guide to getting around has the number.
Worth knowing before you go
Book the workshops early, because half-term places are the first to go. The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, so from then it is dark before the end of the afternoon.
Where we fit
We close at four, or three on a Sunday, so we are the lunch between a morning workshop and an afternoon film, or the cake before a Saturday matinee. The menu has real hot chocolate and a kids' one, and if there are six or more of you over half term, book a table.
