Halloween events in Sevenoaks and west Kent for 2026: what Hever, Leeds Castle and Lullingstone have confirmed, and what to expect elsewhere.

Halloween events in Sevenoaks tend to be a two-part affair: a daytime trail at one of the big estates that is free once you have paid to get in, and something smaller and later in the day closer to home. The estates matter most, because within half an hour of the town you have Hever, Penshurst, Knole, Chartwell, Ightham Mote and Lullingstone, and most of them put on something for the October week.

Three of those have already published 2026 dates. The rest have not, which is normal for early August: Kent attractions typically confirm their October programmes through September. This guide separates the two, so you know what you can actually put in the diary now and what is worth checking again in a few weeks.

What is confirmed for Halloween 2026

Confirmed Halloween 2026 events near Sevenoaks, with dates and what they cost
EventWhere2026 datesCost
Halloween Half Term FunHever Castle17 Oct to 1 NovIncluded with admission
Halloween at Leeds CastleLeeds Castle, Maidstone24 Oct to 1 NovIncluded with admission
Halloween MagicLullingstone Castle, Eynsford31 Oct only£13.50 adult, under 16s free
Autumn ColourHever Castle28 Sept to 1 NovIncluded with admission
Pumpkin FestivalRiverhill, SevenoaksExpected, dates to followGarden admission
National Trust trailsKnole, Chartwell, Ightham MoteExpected, dates to followUsually a small trail fee

The pattern is worth understanding before you spend anything. At the big estates the Halloween programme is bundled into the standard ticket rather than sold separately, so the real decision is whether the day out is worth the admission price, not whether the trail is worth a few pounds.

Timeline of the four confirmed Halloween 2026 events near Sevenoaks: Autumn Colour at Hever runs 28 September to 1 November, Halloween Half Term Fun at Hever 17 October to 1 November, Halloween at Leeds Castle 24 October to 1 November, and Halloween Magic at Lullingstone on 31 October only, all shown against Kent half term from 26 to 30 October
The four confirmed events against Kent's half term week. Hever covers the whole period, Leeds Castle picks it up from the Saturday before, and Lullingstone is a single day.

Hever Castle: the biggest confirmed programme

Hever, about twenty minutes from Sevenoaks near Edenbridge, has confirmed Halloween Half Term Fun for 17 October to 1 November 2026, and it is included with admission (Hever Castle). That is a full sixteen days, which is the longest run of any confirmed event near the town, and it covers both weekends either side of Kent’s half term as well as the week itself.

Running underneath it is Autumn Colour, from 28 September to 1 November, also included with admission (Hever Castle). The 125 acres of grounds, the lake walk and the yew maze do a lot of work in late October even without a themed trail on top.

Admission for 2 September to 19 November 2026, booked online (Hever Castle):

  • Castle and Gardens: adult £25.50, child (5 to 17) £14.05, family £66.60
  • Gardens only: adult £19.95, child £12.50, family £54.65
  • Under 5s: free
  • Buying on the gate costs more, at £28.40 for an adult Castle and Gardens ticket

What it means for you: book online rather than at the gate, and if the children only care about the trail, the maze and the playgrounds, the Gardens Only ticket saves £5.55 per adult and still includes the Halloween activities, which run outdoors.

Leeds Castle: confirmed, details still coming

Leeds Castle near Maidstone has confirmed Halloween at Leeds Castle for 24 October to 1 November 2026, included with the admission ticket, but says plans are still being finalised and full details will follow (Leeds Castle). In recent years the format has been a quest-style trail around the grounds with costumed characters on the busiest days.

Leeds Castle sells an Explorer Ticket that converts to a year’s free entry, priced at £34.50 for an adult, £24.50 for a child and from £87 for a family when booked online, against £38.50, £28 and £97.50 on the day. The grounds open 10am to 6pm with last entry at 3pm, and the castle itself 10:30am to 5pm (Leeds Castle).

What it means for you: it is the furthest of the three confirmed events, about forty minutes on the M26 and M20, and the most expensive per head. The annual-pass structure only makes sense if you will realistically go back, and the Fireworks Spectacular on 7 and 8 November is one reason people do.

Lullingstone Castle: one day, 31 October

The most local of the confirmed events and the most different in character. Lullingstone Castle and the World Garden at Eynsford, about fifteen minutes north of Sevenoaks, runs Halloween Magic on 31 October 2026 from 11am to 6pm, closing its twenty-first season (Lullingstone Castle).

The programme includes pumpkin carving, a pumpkin trail, spooky garden tours and a Zoolab session with live animals including giant African snails, insects, spiders and corn snakes. Tom Hart Dyke leads garden tours at 1pm and a dusk tour at 5pm, and children can look for Halloween tricks by torchlight. Fancy dress is welcome. Admission is £13.50 for an adult with under 16s free, there is an additional £5 donation for the pumpkin carving which needs to be paid in cash, and no pre-booking is required. The Manor House is open 11am to 4pm with last entry at 3:30pm (Lullingstone Castle).

What it means for you: for a family with two or three children this is comfortably the cheapest of the three, because children go free. The dusk tour at 5pm is the part that makes it feel like Halloween rather than a daytime trail, and the walk-up policy means you can decide on the morning.

National Trust properties: expect trails, check the dates

Sevenoaks is surrounded by National Trust land, and the Trust has a long-running habit of putting a low-cost children’s trail into each property for the October week. In past years that has meant a pumpkin-hunt trail at Chartwell near Westerham, a ghostly garden trail at Ightham Mote, a fungi trail at Emmetts Garden and a puzzle trail at Scotney Castle, most of them charging around £3 on top of normal admission, with Knole running paid craft workshops instead (KentOnline).

None of that is confirmed for 2026 yet. The Trust usually loads its half-term programme onto individual property pages in late September or early October, so check Knole, Chartwell, Ightham Mote and Emmetts Garden directly rather than relying on last year’s listings.

What it means for you: if you are already a National Trust member, this is the cheapest way to fill several half-term days, because the trail fee is the only thing you pay. Knole Park itself is free to walk into on foot year-round, which is a genuinely good free morning in late October with no ticket at all (National Trust).

Penshurst Place and Riverhill

Two more that reliably do something and have not announced yet.

Penshurst Place, about twenty-five minutes south, has run a Halloween storytelling event in the last few Octobers, with performances across 22 to 24 and 27 to 29 October in 2025 (Visit Kent). Its 2026 events calendar has an October section but nothing listed in it as of early August (Penshurst Place).

Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, two miles from Sevenoaks town centre, closes its season with a Pumpkin Festival. In 2025 it ran from 18 October to 2 November, with a pumpkin hunt round the gardens and a grotto set up for carving, and needed no pre-booking (Riverhill Himalayan Gardens). The 2026 dates will go on its Activities and Events calendar. Riverhill opens Wednesday to Sunday only, 10am to 5pm, and is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, which catches people out in half term (Riverhill Himalayan Gardens).

Planning the week around it

Kent’s October half term in 2026 runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, with schools breaking up after Friday 23 October (Kent County Council). Halloween itself falls on the Saturday immediately after, so the busiest single day of the whole period will be Saturday 31 October.

That gives you a clear run at it. Monday to Thursday will be the quietest at Hever and Leeds Castle, both of which are open right through the week, and Lullingstone’s event lands on the Saturday itself. If you want the whole autumn set, pumpkin picking sits naturally on the weekend before, and the fireworks displays pick up the weekend after.

For the rest of the week, including the wet-weather options and the free ones, see our October half term guide. The year-round list of things to do in Sevenoaks covers what is open outside the school holidays.

Frequently asked questions

What Halloween events are confirmed near Sevenoaks for 2026? Three so far. Hever Castle runs Halloween Half Term Fun from 17 October to 1 November, included with admission (Hever Castle). Leeds Castle runs its Halloween event from 24 October to 1 November, also included with admission (Leeds Castle). Lullingstone Castle at Eynsford holds Halloween Magic on 31 October (Lullingstone Castle).

Is there anything at Knole for Halloween? Nothing announced for 2026 at the time of writing. Knole has run paid half-term activities in past Octobers (KentOnline), and the Trust usually publishes property programmes in late September, so watch the Knole page. The deer park is free to walk into on foot whatever happens.

Which Halloween event near Sevenoaks is best value for a family? Lullingstone Castle’s Halloween Magic, where under 16s go free and adults pay £13.50, so a family of four costs £27 plus a £5 cash donation if the children carve pumpkins (Lullingstone Castle). Hever works out at £54.65 for an online family Gardens Only ticket covering two adults and up to three children, but you get sixteen possible days and a full estate to fill them (Hever Castle).

Do I need to book Halloween events in advance? For Hever and Leeds Castle, book the admission ticket online, because both charge noticeably more at the gate. Lullingstone and Riverhill do not take bookings at all and you simply turn up (Lullingstone Castle; Riverhill Himalayan Gardens).

When will the rest of the 2026 Halloween events be announced? Through September, in most cases. Hever and Leeds Castle had their dates up by early August, but Penshurst’s October calendar was still empty (Penshurst Place), and the National Trust usually loads half-term listings onto property pages in late September or early October.

Are these events too scary for young children? The estate events near Sevenoaks are pitched at families rather than at teenagers wanting a fright. Hever’s is titled Halloween Half Term Fun, Lullingstone’s is built around pumpkin carving and a live-animal session, and the National Trust trails are usually a hunt with a small prize at the end. If you want something genuinely frightening for older children, look for separately ticketed evening events rather than the daytime trails.

Sources

Dates and prices were checked against each venue’s own website in August 2026. Several October programmes are still to be announced, so confirm with the venue before you travel.