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 builds towards one evening on our own doorstep: a ghost walk that starts at the Clock Tower on the Market Place.
Checked 5 October 2026 against each organiser's own page. Everything below is on what's on in Thirsk, and we're at 87 Market Place, a few steps from the Clock Tower.
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; family fungi walk at Thorp Perrow |
| Sun 25 Oct | Clocks go back. Family Pumpkin Night at Monk Park Farm |
| Tue 27 Oct | Rural Arts: make your own ceramic dragon |
| 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. Ghost walk from the Clock Tower; last day of the pumpkins |
Halloween night: the ghost walk
The Halloween ghost walk is the one to plan the week around. Historic Experiences leads a 75-minute walk through the old streets of the town, telling Thirsk's ghost stories and legends, and ends it with a hot chocolate at a historic spot in town. It meets at the Clock Tower at 6pm on Saturday 31 October, and is booked online, with refunds up to seven days before.
The guide is Tina, an archaeologist who has spent over thirty years bringing the past to life, so expect real local history under the ghost stories.
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, 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, with family fungi walks on both half-term Saturdays.
The week after half term is Bonfire Night, and we have put the four displays near Thirsk together.
Getting around
The ghost walk, Rural Arts and the Ritz are all 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 and the ghost walk 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. The ghost walk is 75 minutes on foot after dark in late October, so wrap up and wear shoes for old streets.
Where we fit
We close at four, so we are the lunch between a morning workshop and an afternoon film, or the cake before a Saturday night ghost walk. 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.
