Bincombe's pumpkin patch is free from 10 October, Swanage Railway's ghost trains run 30 and 31 October at £25, and Mapperton's trail is £5 a child.

Dorset’s Halloween is mostly farms, gardens and heritage sites rather than town-centre events, and most of it is already published. Bincombe Bumps, near Weymouth, opens a free-to-enter pick-your-own pumpkin patch on Saturday 10 October. The two big evening events are Nothe Fort’s adults-only zombie night and the Swanage Railway’s ghost trains, both on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October.

Dorset Council’s half term is 26 to 30 October, and most attractions run their programmes from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November. Everything below was read on the organiser’s own website on 3 October 2026, with the price they publish. Where an organiser gives no price, we say so.

The quick answer

  • Pumpkin picking, free entry: Bincombe Bumps near Weymouth, 10 and 11, 17 and 18, then daily 24 to 31 October, 10am to 4pm. Booked and £6.50 a head: Dewflock Farm at Winterborne Monkton, weekends 10 to 25 October.
  • Halloween train: the Swanage Railway’s Ghost Trains on 30 and 31 October, adults £25, children £15, with crafts at Corfe Castle station. For ages 14 and over, Steam and Screams runs on 31 October at £30.
  • Cheapest trails: Moors Valley’s Great Halloween Mystery at £3.50 a pack, all month, and Mapperton’s Pippa and the Pumpkin Trail at £5 a child with one adult free, 25 to 31 October.
  • Adults only: Nothe of the Living Dead: The Freak Circus, Nothe Fort, 30 and 31 October, £25, ages 16 and over.

Pumpkin patches

Bincombe Bumps Pumpkins, Bincombe, near Weymouth. The farm’s October Pumpkin Festival is “free to enter” and open on 10 and 11 October, 17 and 18 October, and every day from 24 to 31 October, 10am to 4pm. Besides the pick-your-own patch it lists outdoor play areas, a haunted house, a bouncy castle, axe throwing, trick or treat, and drinks, lunches and sweet treats. Dogs on leads are welcome. You pay for the pumpkins you take, not to get in. The organiser’s site gives no prices for pumpkins or the extras and points to its Facebook page for updates.

Dewflock Farm, Winterborne Monkton, Dorchester DT2 8NP. Pumpkins and Fun on the Farm runs on Saturdays and Sundays 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25 October in booked two-hour slots at 10am, 12 noon and 2pm. Tickets are £6.50 a person for anyone over three and cover the farm animals, a maize maze, the pumpkin field, straw play in the barn, a bouncy castle and face painting. There is space to carve, but bring your own tools or buy them on site. The farm warns that slots “cannot be transferred once purchased”, so check the day before you pay.

Farmer Palmer’s Farm Park, Organford, Poole BH16 6EU. The farm park’s Halloween half term runs 26 to 31 October with the maize maze, a Halloween quiz, a new Wee Wheelers Pumpkin Push and the Snotbags Disco, all in the admission price. Its prices page gives October half-term admission at £20 online for adults and children over three, £11 for two-year-olds, with under-twos free and walk-up tickets £3 more. Opening is 9.30am to 4pm. The candy dash, the Soak-A-Spook tractor ride and face painting cost extra.

Gorcombe Farm, Thornicombe, Blandford Forum DT11 9AG. Gorcombe’s pumpkin patch page says it is open “Tuesday to Sunday from the 1st October for the whole month”, near the farm’s cafe. The page does not name a year, so ring 01258 452219 to check before you drive out.

Trails in the day

Mapperton, near Beaminster DT8 3NR. Pippa and the Pumpkin Trail runs Sunday 25 to Saturday 31 October, daily 11am to 3pm, through the gardens. Children follow the clues to “solve the mystery of the missing pumpkin” with an activity booklet and get a prize at the end. Entry is £5 a child aged two and over, and one adult per child gets into the gardens free. Additional adults pay £7.50, and under-twos are free. Booking is through the Mapperton site.

Moors Valley Country Park and Forest, near Ringwood. The park’s Halloween page has The Great Halloween Mystery trail from 1 October to 1 November at £3.50 a pack including a prize, and Halloween clues on the Room on the Broom trail through October with the £4 pack. In half term the Moors Valley Railway runs daily from 24 October to 1 November from £3.20 a person, with goody bags at £2. Parking is charged.

Minterne Gardens, Minterne Magna. The estate’s events page lists a Halloween Trail at Minterne Gardens from 24 October to 1 November, booked online. The cafe and gardens open from 10am daily. Minterne does not publish a trail price on that page.

Nothe Fort, Weymouth DT4 8UF. Halloween Half-Term Fun runs 24 October to 1 November, 10am to 4pm, with a mouse hunt, wand making, pumpkin golf and ghosty boo bowling every day, and spooky bingo at 11am and 2pm. It is included in admission (£11 adult, £4.50 child). Family ghost tours, ten people a tour, were still marked “dates to be announced” on 3 October.

The Tank Museum, Bovington BH20 6JG. The museum’s October half term runs 24 October to 1 November, 10am to 5pm, with family trails and tours and free soft play for ages 3 to 11. Online adult tickets are £19.60, and every ticket is an annual pass. It is all indoors, which matters in a wet half term.

Tumbledown, Radipole Lane, Weymouth DT4 9RP. Weymouth Town Council’s free autumnal family event is on Friday 30 October, 10am to 1pm, with woodland trails, autumn crafts and pumpkins to carve. It is free.

The full half-term picture, including which schools break up early, is on our October half term in Dorset page.

Ghost trains on the Swanage Railway

The railway’s Halloween Ghost Trains run on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October. The ticket covers a heritage train journey with onboard entertainment and Halloween characters, then crafts and slime-making at Corfe Castle station. Adults £25, children £15. The railway says the ticket also gives Freedom of the Line travel on its other services that day, and suggests parking at Norden and taking the train rather than driving into Swanage.

Steam and Screams on Saturday 31 October is the adult version: “our after-dark Halloween experience for ages 14+”, with live actors, jump scares, characters from Purbeck’s past and an onboard licensed bar. It costs £30 a person. The event page books by departure.

After dark

Nothe of the Living Dead: The Freak Circus, Nothe Fort, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October. The fort’s event page describes the sixth year of its zombie night as an hour of “jump scares, immersive theatre, and escape-room-style challenges” in a travelling circus. £25 a person, advance booking essential, with slots between 6pm and 11.40pm. The minimum age is 16, and under-18s need a paying adult taking part with them. The fort says the route is not wheelchair accessible, with darkness, uneven floors and confined spaces.

Halloween Experience at Moors Valley, 23 October to 1 November. An illuminated trail through the woods with sessions from 4pm to 9pm, described by the park as family-friendly. Booking is required through Forestry England, and members who book get one free parking space. The page we read gave no ticket price.

Halloween day itself

Lyme Regis Halloween Duck Race, Saturday 31 October, 12pm. Hundreds of numbered toy ducks go into the River Lym at Woodmead Road Bridge and race to Jordan Flats, according to Love Lyme Regis. The first duck home wins £100, and the money raised goes to Lyme Heartbeat, which looks after the town’s defibrillators. The official address is Windsor Terrace, Higher Mill Flats, DT7 3AW.

Lyme’s own fireworks follow a week later, on Saturday 7 November: see our Dorset fireworks page.

Weymouth town centre: not announced yet

In 2025 the town’s business improvement district, We Are Weymouth, ran a Halloween programme with a Grimm’s scary-tales trail at £2.75, a Halloween parade through the town on Thursday 30 October finishing with a “Trunk or Treat” in the Melcombe Regis car park, and a spooky cruise from behind the Pavilion at 9pm. Its 2026 events leaflet lists “Zombies” and “Halloween” among this year’s fixtures, but no 2026 dates or times had been published on 3 October. We will add them when they are.

Getting there and parking

Half term is the first week after the clocks go back on 25 October, so it is dark by about 5pm. Car parks at the farms and gardens are on site. For Weymouth and the seafront, our parking in Dorset page has the town-centre car parks and charges, and the roadworks and travel page has the closures.

Still to come

  • Nothe Fort’s family ghost tour dates.
  • We Are Weymouth’s 2026 Halloween parade and trail.
  • Moors Valley’s Halloween Experience ticket price, which is shown only at booking.

Sources