Halloween around Stafford: Stone's High Street festival on the 31st, a Market Square special on the 30th, Shugborough ghost tours and pumpkins from £6.
Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, 31 October, the last day of Staffordshire’s half term. Stafford does not have one big Halloween event. It has a cluster of smaller ones across the borough, plus a big pick-your-own pumpkin patch six miles down the M6.
The quick answer
- Stone Halloween Festival: Saturday 31 October, 10am to 3pm, on Stone High Street, run by Stone Traders Group.
- Stafford Food and Music Festival Halloween Special: Friday 30 October, Market Square. The council has not published times yet.
- Pumpkin picking at Lower Drayton Farm, Penkridge: daily from 17 to 31 October, entry from £6 booked online.
- Ghost tours at Shugborough: 29 to 31 October, £15 adults, £10 children aged 10 and over, booking essential.
In the town centres
Stafford Food and Music Festival Halloween Special, Friday 30 October, Market Square, Stafford ST16 2BD. Stafford Borough Council’s Market Square events page lists it with “times to be confirmed”, and that was still the wording on 4 October. We will add the times here when the council publishes them.
Stone Halloween Festival, Saturday 31 October, 10am to 3pm, Stone High Street. It is run by Stone Traders Group and appears on Stone Town Council’s 2026 events calendar. Neither the council nor the traders have published a programme beyond the date, times and place.
Pumpkin picking
The nearest pick-your-own patch with a full published timetable is Lower Drayton Farm, Lower Drayton Lane, Penkridge ST19 5RE, about a mile from M6 junction 13. From the farm’s pumpkins page and its 2026 announcement:
- Open: Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October, then daily from Saturday 17 to Saturday 31 October.
- Pumpkins After Dark: Fridays 16, 23 and 30 October, 5pm to 10pm, with picking and carving after sunset, fairground rides, live music and a licensed bar.
- Half term: from Saturday 24 October the pumpkin ticket also covers Witch School, pumpkin games and bouncy pillows.
- Dogs: welcome on Saturday 31 October only, the farm’s “Pupkin Patch” day.
- There is a new undercover carving barn, so you can carve on site and leave the mess behind.
| Ticket | Online | At the gate |
|---|---|---|
| Entry only | £6 | £8 |
| Entry and a pumpkin | £10 | £12 |
| Entry, pumpkin and a small bag of veg | £13 | £15 |
| Entry, pumpkin and a large bag of veg | £15 | £17 |
Under-twos and carers go free. The farm warns that sessions “can sell out, especially during October half term and Friday evenings”. PLAY@, the farm’s play area, is a separate ticket.
Ghost tours at Shugborough
The National Trust is running Ghost Tours at Shugborough Mansion on Thursday 29, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, 3pm to 5pm: a one-hour guided tour of “some of the most haunted corners of the Mansion”, then a cream tea in the Mansion Tearoom.
- £15 adults, including a cream tea
- £10 children, including a Halloween biscuit and a drink
- Recommended for adults and children aged 10 and over
- Booking essential, on 0344 249 1895, and normal estate admission applies on top
The prices and times are from the Trust’s event page as we read it on 2 October. The Trust’s website has been blocking automated checks since then, so confirm on the phone line before you travel. The mansion is a 15-minute walk from Visitor Reception, with a buggy until 4.30pm. Shugborough’s half-term opening times and admission prices are on our Shugborough opening times page.
Trick or treat trains at Amerton
Amerton Railway, the narrow-gauge line at Amerton Farm, Stowe-by-Chartley ST18 0LA, runs Trick or Treat Trains on Wednesday 28 and Saturday 31 October. Children collect a spotting sheet at the ticket office and look out for what “the ghouls, ghosts, witches, and monsters have left behind” along the line. From the railway’s event page:
- Trains run to the regular timetable
- No pre-booking: pay on the day
- £3.50 adults, £2.50 children and concessions
- Parking at Amerton Farm is free all day
At the Gatehouse Theatre
The Gatehouse on Eastgate Street, Stafford ST16 2LT, has four Halloween shows, all checked on the theatre’s own pages on 4 October. Box office: 01785 619080.
- The McDougalls: Halloween Party Show, Tuesday 27 October, 1pm, £15, or £27 for two adults and two children on the current family offer. An hour of singalong for young children. Details.
- The Nag’s Head, Tuesday 27 October, 7.30pm, MET Studio, £18. A comedy of ghost stories set in a pub, for adults, 100 minutes. Details.
- Halloween Dance Workshop, Friday 30 October, 11am, £5, in costume. Listed as “Last Few”. Details.
- The Spooky Magic Show, Saturday 31 October, 1.30pm and 3.30pm, MET Studio, £15. Magic and puppets, “spooky but not scary”, for children aged 4 and up. Details.
The day after: fireworks
The Staffordshire Fireworks Extravaganza is on Sunday 1 November at the County Showground, so Halloween weekend ends with fireworks. Tickets are online only, with nothing sold on the gate. Times, prices and the organisers’ rules are on our Stafford fireworks page.
The rest of half-term week, including the school dates that differ from the county’s, is on our October half term page.
Getting about
For the Friday festival in Market Square you will need a town centre car park; parking in Stafford lists every council car park and its charges. Check our roadworks and travel page before you set off: Bishton Lane at Little Haywood stays shut at its A51 junction until 18 December.
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