Half term runs 26 to 30 October 2026. Dinton After Dark is on Saturday 31 October, 4.30pm to 6.30pm, at £9 an adult and £4 a child, and booking is essential.

October half term in Wokingham borough runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, and the borough’s own Halloween night is Dinton After Dark on Saturday 31 October, 4.30pm to 6.30pm, at £9 an adult and £4 a child. The holiday dates are the council’s published calendar for community and voluntary controlled schools, which has term 1 ending on Friday 23 October and term 2 starting on Monday 2 November (Wokingham Borough Council term dates 2026 to 2027, PDF). Academies and voluntary aided schools set their own dates, so check yours.

Almost everything worth booking is already listed, with prices, on the borough’s own countryside site. Here is the week as it stands.

The dates, in order

Date Event Where Price
Fri 2 to Sun 11 Oct Paulo’s Circus Dinton Pastures Not published
Sat 10 Oct Mobile climbing tower pop-up, 10am to 4pm California Country Park £4 per climb
Fri 23 to Sat 31 Oct Hallo’Welly’Ween, 9.30am to 4.30pm Wellington Country Park, Riseley Not published
Sun 25 Oct JL Events Halloween Fun Day, 10am to 3pm Dinton Pastures Not published
Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct Autumn and Winter Wild Days, 9.30am to 4.30pm Dinton Activity Centre £27 half day, £54 full day
Sat 31 Oct Dinton After Dark, 4.30pm to 6.30pm Dinton Pastures £9 adult, £4 child
Sun 1 Nov Hollywood under the Stars, 5pm to 8pm Dinton Pastures £9.95 adult, £5.95 child

All of those dates and prices come from the borough’s countryside events calendar and the individual event pages behind it (Wokingham Countryside, events).

Dinton After Dark, Saturday 31 October

This is the one to book. It runs 4.30pm to 6.30pm on Halloween night itself and it is built as a walk, not a scare maze: a “spooky (but not scary!) lakeside trail”, marshmallow roasting round the fire, friendly characters to spot, and food and drink through the evening (Dinton After Dark).

The prices are set out per person, not per family:

  • £9 per adult, 18 and over
  • £4 per child, ages 3 to 12
  • Under 3s free
  • Parking is included in the ticket

Two practical notes from the organisers. Pre-booking is essential, so this is not a turn-up event, and they advise warm clothing and sturdy footwear, which is fair for a lakeside path at dusk in late October. Barnes Fitness is running a fun run on the same site after the family event, booked separately.

Childcare that week: Wild Days

If you need the daytime covered rather than the evening, the Wild Days holiday sessions run Monday to Friday through the half term week, 9.30am to 4.30pm, for ages 8 to 14, at the Dinton Activity Centre by Black Swan Lake. They cost £27 a half day or £54 a full day, and the activities are land and water sports on the lake (Autumn and Winter Wild Days).

Hallo’Welly’Ween at Wellington Country Park

Wellington Country Park at Riseley runs its Halloween week from Friday 23 to Saturday 31 October 2026, 9.30am to 4.30pm daily, in what it calls its 13th year. The park has published a full daily timetable rather than a vague listing (Hallo’Welly’Ween):

  • Family circus shows in the Big Top on the Main Green at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, about 45 minutes each
  • White Marquee shows and discos at 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm and 2.30pm, about 30 minutes each
  • Recycled crafts with Junk Jodie, 10am to 4pm, last entry 3.30pm
  • Exotic animal encounters in the Adventure Room, 10am to 4pm, last entry 3.40pm
  • Silent disco near soft play, 10.30am to 4pm
  • Halloween train rides, 10.30am to 4pm, charged separately at £1 a person
  • Pumpkin painting, with pumpkins bought outside Main Reception and charged by size

Two things are not settled. The park says animal farm petting sessions and talks “will be announced closer to the date”, and it does not publish the day ticket price on the event page at all, so the cost only appears once you start a booking. The park also warns that sound, lighting and special effects run through the site, and asks anyone sensitive to those to call ahead on 0118 932 6444.

The alternative to fireworks, Sunday 1 November

Hollywood under the Stars is the borough’s answer to a bang-free display, and it lands the day after Halloween. Doors and pre-show run 5pm to 7.15pm with a brass band playing film themes, a DJ, a choir doing Disney and musical numbers, character walkabouts, rides and stalls, then a laser light show at 7.15pm. Tickets are £9.95 an adult, £5.95 a child and £7.95 for carers, who must show ID on arrival (Hollywood under the Stars).

The organisers are explicit about two things. Parking is a separate £5 per car, pre-booked only, valid from 4pm to 9pm, and dogs are not allowed, because of capacity limits and low lighting. Use the Davis Street entrance, RG10 0TH, with your confirmation email ready.

It is worth reading that alongside our fireworks page: the town’s own display at Cantley Park is a week later, on Saturday 7 November, and it is a very different evening.

Parking and getting there

Dinton Pastures charges for parking as normal, and only the Dinton After Dark ticket includes it. The two entrances are Davis Street, Hurst, RG10 0TH for the country park and Sandford Lane, Hurst, RG10 0SU for the Activity Centre, which is where the Wild Days and the workshops run. Our parking page covers the town centre tariffs if you are combining a trip with the shops, and the roadworks and travel page has anything closing that week.

Still to be published

  • Ticket prices for Paulo’s Circus, the JL Events Halloween Fun Day and Hallo’Welly’Ween day entry, all expected during September and early October.
  • Wellington’s animal farm petting session times, which the park says it will announce closer to the event.
  • Wokingham Libraries’ half term programme, which in past years has included Halloween story sessions run with the Dinton rangers.

We will update this page as each is published.