Posted on October 12, 2023
With changing leaves, honey-toned cottages and plenty of activities such as pumpkin-picking, spooky mazes and captivating firework displays to choose from, autumn is one of our favourite times of year for everything cosy and colourful.
Explore our pick of the best Halloween and Bonfire Night events worth visiting in The Cotswolds.
Halloween Events at Overfarm
Overfarm near Gloucester is the place to go for family friendly, country-inspired Halloween events. It’s a popular spot to pick your own pumpkins throughout October, but during the final two weeks of the month, they hold Pumpkins After Dark which is pumpkin picking on another level.
Pick up a pumpkin under the twinkling night sky while enjoying moody lighting, music and fire dancers. A super fun event for older kids or even as a date night. Overfarm also hold Spookyard Halloween Festival. Running from the 28th October - 5th November, Spookyard is a special family event during half term where the whole family can come in their spookiest fancy dress and meet weird witches, enjoy performances and take part in fun, farm themed carnival games.
Pumpkin Patch at Cotswold Farm Park
A trip to Cotswold Farm Park during October gets you a free pumpkin token to pick up a souvenir gourd from their pumpkin patch! On top of that, Cotswold Farm Park have brought spooky elements to the farm such as family-friendly Halloween themed mazes, selfie stations, face painting and autumn inspired foodie treats!
The Great Scarecrow Hunt - Rococo Garden
For something a bit different this season, why not head down to the gorgeous Rococo Garden for some scarecrow spotting fun? Local organisations, groups, and the Rococo Garden team, have created some fantastic, scarecrow characters to place around their garden. Not only will you get to take in the amazing gardens, should you find all the scarecrows, you have the chance to win a prize. There’s plenty to do for the whole family: explore the luscious walks, adventure in the rustic woodland play area or dance away to the live music. Even dogs are welcome, so come along for a truly unique, autumnal family day out. There’s also no need to pre-book. Taking part in the trail costs £1 on top of standard admission.
Spooky Cellars At The Mansion - Woodchester Mansion
Step inside a haunted mansion and explore the cellars and ghouls that hide below the ground floor. Woodchester Mansion go all out to dress up their cellars with a particularly spooky atmosphere and characters to match from Friday 27th October to Sunday 5th November. Visitors are encouraged to come along in fancy dress too, and in their tea rooms they’re serving up tasty seasonal treats to warm up after some chilling adventures!
Halloweek at Sudeley Castle
Dive into a Tudor themed Halloween at Sudeley Castle during Halloweek, running from the 28th October - 5th November. Head down to the castle so that you can discover everything about the life and after-life of England’s only Queen buried in a private Chapel, Katherine Parr. With plenty more characters from history to meet across the castle, family-friendly gruesome games, a spooky trail and scary stories to keep little ghouls entertained!
Pumpkins n’ Pirates at Fairytale Farm
Running from the 21st October until the 29th, you can head to fairytale farm to meet the Pumpkin Pirates on Patch Island to learn the ways of a pirate, from a sea shanty to understanding pirate speak. Families can also visit the ‘Jolly Roger Pumpkin Patch’, where the Pumpkin Pirates will share their well earned booty, a free pumpkin for every child. There’ll also be assisted carving on site to help turn your pumpkin to a jack-o-lantern. Dressing up is greatly encouraged!
Once your sweet tooth has been satisfied by all the halloween events, there are plenty of firework displays to choose from across The Cotswolds. You can’t go wrong with any of these events!
Fireworks Extravaganza - Cheltenham Racecourse
Sunday, 5th November, from 4pm
Put on your warmest coats and head down to the Cheltenham Racecourse for their fantastic fireworks display at 6:30pm. Getting there early will allow you to take in the whole event, including food and drink marquees. Or you can stay after the display to enjoy lots of fun fair rides and games plus a side of samba music to dance to!
Northleach Firework display
Friday, 3rd November from 5:30pm
The Old Smokery is hosting their fifth firework event at Far Peak. Tickets will be available up until 1pm on the day to purchase so there’s still plenty of time to decide whether to head to one of the best firework events in the area. With a barbecue on site and an afterparty for over 18s, it’s a great evening out.
Wotton Fireworks Display
Saturday, 4th November from 5:30pm
The firework display at Wotton-Under-Edge is a great family night out featuring not one but two firework displays, a bonfire, lots of locally produced food and drinks plus fun fair rides. Parking this year needs to be pre-booked this year however. Wotton-Under-Edge is a great option for those preferring quieter fireworks as they hold a short, low level display at 6:30pm. For those wanting the high dramatics display, stick around until 7:30pm, between the two is the lighting of the bonfire so that time will fly by.
Miserden Fireworks Display and Bonfire
Sunday, 5th November 4:30-8pm
A family friendly and exciting evening out, enjoy tasty BBQ food and a hot toddy while staying cosy by the huge bonfire burn for the evening. The professional fireworks display kicks off at 7pm by the Skyburst Firework Company!
Dursley Fireworks
Saturday, 4th November from 5pm
Since 2016, Girlguiding Dursley District have been organising the Dursley Fireworks for the local community and this year, the event is to help support Great Western Air Ambulance Charity. The display starts at 6pm with all the traditional trimmings of a BBQ, hot drinks plus live music for extra entertainment. There’s no need to book, just turn up on the gates and pay on arrival.
Almondsbury Creative Fireworks- A tribute to Star Wars
Friday, 3rd November 4pm-10pm
Every year Almonsbury Creative look to push the boundaries of fireworks events, and this year promises to be bigger and better than ever before! Not only will there be fireworks choreographed to music but this year will feature the addition of laser and pyro shows too. Expect Star Wars themed entertainment including Jabba the Hut’s lair, Lightsaber school, character spotting and plenty more.
If you’re after even more events this season to attend in The Cotswolds, we’ve got plenty of ideas for you.