Pumpkin picking near Rugby from £6 a car at Malt Kiln Farm, night picking at Wolston, and the council's free Caldecott Park trail on 28 and 29 October.

Halloween falls on Saturday 31 October 2026, at the end of Warwickshire’s half term (Monday 26 to Friday 30 October). Rugby’s Halloween is spread across three kinds of thing: two pumpkin patches inside the borough, a free council trail in Caldecott Park, and a run of half-term sessions at the Benn Hall, the library and the art gallery.

Checked 3 October 2026 against each organiser’s own page.

The quick answer

  • Pumpkin picking: Malt Kiln Farm Shop at Stretton-under-Fosse is open from today, £6 a car if you book, pumpkins priced by weight. The Pumpkin Place Wolston charges £4.80 a person (age 3 and over) plus a booking fee, and runs night picking too.
  • Free: the council’s Mischief and Magic Trail, Caldecott Park, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, 12 noon to 4pm. The full programme is still “coming soon”.
  • Ticketed in town: Trick and Treat Circus Live at the Benn Hall, Tuesday 27 October, 1.30pm, £11 to £13.

Pumpkin picking

Both patches are inside Rugby borough, and both ask you to book a timeslot online. Neither allows dogs, other than guide dogs at Wolston.

Malt Kiln Farm Shop, Stretton-under-Fosse

The farm shop on the B4027, Main Street, Stretton-under-Fosse, CV23 0PE, which the farm describes as easily reached from junction 2 of the M6, opens its patch on Saturday 3 October. Its 2026 page promises “tens of thousands” of pumpkins, gourds and squash and more than 30 varieties.

  • Open days: Saturday 3 and Sunday 4, Thursday 8, Friday 9, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11, Thursday 15, Friday 16, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, then every day from Thursday 22 to Saturday 31 October
  • Entry: £6 per car when booked, which the farm says covers an average car of five. Each extra person over five pays £1.20 at the gate
  • Walk-ins: allowed this year only if slots are free when you arrive, at £6 for up to four people and £1.50 for each extra person, so booking is cheaper for bigger groups
  • Pumpkins: priced by weight, per kilo
  • Extras: free hardstanding parking, a wash station for boots and pumpkins, the farm shop, a café and a make-your-own milkshake station
  • Alpacas: The Alpaca Pals visit on Thursday 29 October, 11am to 1pm, weather permitting. No booking for them, but you still need a picking slot in those hours. Taster walks are £5 per alpaca, paid to The Alpaca Pals, with a maximum of two walkers

Without a car, the farm says the number 85 bus runs to Stretton-under-Fosse from Rugby and Coventry, by National Express from Monday to Saturday and Stagecoach on Sundays. You still need to book a slot. (Malt Kiln Farm Shop)

The Pumpkin Place Wolston

Coalpit Lane, Wolston, CV8 3GB. The patch opens “every October” and sells two kinds of ticket through its Beyonk booking page:

  • Daytime: £4.80 a person aged 3 and over, a family of four for £17.30 or a family of five for £19.60, each before the booking fee. New this year: a tractor-trailer ride (daylight only, may not run in bad weather) and a UV Halloween walk-through tunnel.
  • Night picking: £5.80 a person aged 3 and over, before the fee, picking under lights. No tractor rides after dark.

Both include the bale maze, vintage tractors and pumpkin-target cannons. If it rains, there are pumpkins to choose from inside the barn, and Ken’s café is on site. The booking page lists timeslots but not a fixed run of dates, so check the calendar before you set off. (The Pumpkin Place Wolston)

The free park trail

Mischief and Magic Trail, Caldecott Park, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, 12 noon to 4pm. Rugby Borough Council bills it as its Halloween celebrations, with “seasonal activities, festive decorations, and plenty of Halloween fun for the whole family”. On 3 October the listing still said “more information coming soon”, so it does not yet say what the trail involves or whether any part of it is charged. We will add that when it appears.

Caldecott Park is in the town centre, and the organisers list no event parking. Our parking in Rugby page has the council car parks and their tariffs.

Halloween in the town centre

  • Trick and Treat Circus Live, Benn Hall, Newbold Road, Tuesday 27 October, 1.30pm, £11 to £13, rated U. An hour-long, scare-free mix of circus and pantomime aimed at young children
  • Spooky printmaking, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, Wednesday 28 October, sessions at 10.15am and 11.30am, £3 a child, ages 6 and up. Children design a Halloween repeat-pattern printing roller inspired by Paula Rego (RAGM)
  • Little Monsters Play, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, Thursday 29 October, sessions at 10.15am and 11.30am, £2.50 a child, ages 2 to 6. Loose-parts play “with a spooky twist” (RAGM)
  • Free at the gallery all week: a spooky shadow hunt around the building and drop-in neon crafts during opening hours (RAGM)

The rest of the half-term week, including the literary festival family day and the K-Pop show, is on our October half term page.

For grown-ups

  • Pottery Painting Halloween Plates, Bacco Lounge, Monday 5 October, 7pm to 8pm, £30. Plates are glazed and fired, then collected from Bacco the following week (The Rugby Town)
  • Pumpkin Painting at The Hideout, Saturday 10 October, 7pm to 9pm, £22, booked through The Hideout’s social media (The Rugby Town)
  • The Mum Club Halloween Brunch Club, The Tuning Fork, Houlton, Friday 23 October, 10am to 12 noon, £29 (The Rugby Town)
  • Halloween Quiz Night, Rugby Library, Friday 30 October, 7.30pm to 9.30pm, doors 7pm. Adults only, £5 a head plus a booking fee, teams of up to six, book through Eventbrite (The Rugby Town)
  • Halloween candle making with afternoon tea, Izzy Loops, Saturday 31 October, 5pm to 7pm, £69. A honey jar candle, votives and tea lights, with afternoon tea and fizz (The Rugby Town)

Not announced yet

Warwickshire County Council’s country parks, including Ryton Pools, had published no 2026 Halloween programme on their news page when we checked. If Ryton Pools or Draycote add an event, it will go here.

The week after

The Diwali celebration fills Market Place on Sunday 1 November, 2pm to 7pm, free. The Rugby Fireworks Show at Whinfield Park is on Saturday 7 November. For anything closed on the roads in between, see roadworks and travel.

Sources