Free Old Town Halloween with fireworks at 7.30pm on Sunday 25 October, plus pumpkin picking at M1 junction 9 from £8.15 and Willows' patch. Every date.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, 31 October, the last day of Hertfordshire’s half term. Hemel’s own big night comes first: the free Old Town Halloween on Sunday 25 October, which ends with fireworks on the High Street at 7.30pm. For pumpkins, the nearest bookable patch is The Pop Up Farm at M1 junction 9, the next junction north of Hemel, and Willows Activity Farm at London Colney runs its Pumpkin Festival through the second half of October.

The quick answer

  • Old Town Halloween: Sunday 25 October, 3pm to 7.30pm, fireworks at 7.30pm. Free.
  • Pumpkin picking: The Pop Up Farm, set days from 4 to 31 October, tickets £8.15 to £11.20, booked online only. Willows Activity Farm, 10 to 31 October, a free pumpkin for each paid child.
  • Whipsnade Zoo: Boo at the Zoo, 24 October to 1 November, included with zoo entry.
  • Tring museum: free Museum by Torchlight, Friday 30 October, 5pm to 7.30pm, booking required.

Every date at a glance

Date What Where Cost
4 to 31 Oct, set days Pumpkin and Squash Festival The Pop Up Farm, M1 J9 £8.15 to £11.20
10, 11, 17, 18 and 23 to 31 Oct Willows Pumpkin Festival Willows Activity Farm, London Colney Day ticket, free pumpkin per paid child
Wed 21 Oct Hauntings The Old Town Hall, Hemel Ticketed
Fri 23 Oct, 8pm The Haunted Bride The Old Town Hall, Hemel Ticketed
24 Oct to 1 Nov Boo at the Zoo Whipsnade Zoo Zoo entry
Sun 25 Oct, 3pm to 7.30pm Old Town Halloween, fireworks 7.30pm High Street, Hemel Old Town Free
Mon 26 Oct, 10am to 3pm Eerie Animal Encounter The Marlowes Free, owl handling £3
Wed 28 Oct Weapons (18) The Old Town Hall, Hemel Ticketed
Thu 29 Oct, 6.30pm to 9.30pm Moonlit Pumpkins The Pop Up Farm, M1 J9 Ticketed
Fri 30 Oct, 5pm to 7.30pm Museum by Torchlight Natural History Museum, Tring Free, book

Old Town Halloween, Sunday 25 October

Dacorum Borough Council’s listing calls it “a spooktacular afternoon in the Old Town”: a large community event run with local businesses, St Mary’s Church, Community Action Dacorum and the Old Town Hall. Expect entertainment along the High Street, a fancy dress competition for all ages and a fireworks display at 7.30pm. It runs 3pm to 7.30pm, entry is free, and the council says “more information to follow”, so the stage times and stalls are not yet published (Dacorum events calendar).

The listed postcode is HP1 3AQ. Council car parks in the Old Town charge on Sundays, and the High Street itself will be busy; our page on parking in Hemel Hempstead sets out the nearest options. If a road closure order is published for the evening, it will appear on our roadworks and travel page.

Pumpkin picking near Hemel

The Pop Up Farm, M1 junction 9

The Pigott family’s farm sits on the A5183 roundabout at M1 junction 9, the first exit after the motorway slip road, sat nav AL3 8HT (The Pop Up Farm). It calls itself Hertfordshire’s original pumpkin patch, running since 2017, and says plainly that it is “not Halloween-focused”: this is a patch and farm games, not a scare attraction (The Pop Up Farm).

  • Pumpkin and Squash Festival 2026: the booking site opens it from Sunday 4 October and runs to Saturday 31 October, with time slots from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Tickets listed there run from £8.15 to £11.20 (booking site). A separate Flexi ticket lets you pick any open day from 17 to 31 October.
  • Every visitor needs a ticket, booked online. There are no sales on the gate, and under-2s are free but still need a ticket (FAQs).
  • Moonlit Pumpkins, Thursday 29 October, 6.30pm to 9.30pm: pumpkins, firepits, marshmallows, live music and hot apple cider, on sale now (booking site).

The farm asks visitors to check its social media before setting off, in case of weather closures.

Willows Activity Farm, London Colney

Willows’ Pumpkin Festival runs on 10, 11, 17 and 18 October, then every day from 23 to 31 October. Each paid child admission, or under-90cm top-up ticket, includes one free standard pumpkin from the patch. The day also has a pumpkin hunt, arts and crafts, a Halloween maze, character shows including the farm’s own Patch the Pumpkin, a Halloween disco and a tractor ride (Willows Activity Farm).

On its half term programme the patch, maze and pumpkin carving run 10am to 4.30pm (last entry) and the farm closes at 5.30pm (programme, PDF). The farm’s FAQs say you can pay on arrival, though Willows is cashless and asks anyone with a timed pumpkin booking to arrive close to it; children under 90cm are free but need a ticket (FAQs). Willows is on Coursers Road, off M25 junction 22. On weekdays from 12 to 22 October it runs a smaller Pre-School Pumpkin Patch instead (Willows Activity Farm).

Boo at the Zoo, Whipsnade

Boo at the Zoo returns from 24 October to 1 November, this year themed on poisonous and venomous animals. ZSL lists (Whipsnade Zoo):

  • Halloween storytime at 10.30am, 1.15pm and 3pm every day except 31 October.
  • Creepy crafts in the learning hub, 10.30am to 3.30pm.
  • A costume contest every day at 12.20pm, with a prize for the winner.
  • Wildlife gravestones around the zoo, 10am to 4pm, and ghost tours recommended for ages 7 and up.
  • A spooky train trail, included with a railway ticket, plus ceramic painting and face painting, which cost extra.

The activities come with a standard zoo ticket; under-3s go free and parking is free. ZSL says its online prices are its best.

Tring museum, Friday 30 October

The Natural History Museum at Tring’s Museum by Torchlight runs on Friday 30 October, 5pm to 7.30pm. The galleries go dark, children search for hidden animals by torch, make a spooky animal to take home and handle specimens, and costumes are encouraged. It is free, but booking is required (Natural History Museum). The museum’s free Brilliant Bats and Super Spiders drop-ins run earlier in the week; both are on our half term page.

For grown-ups: The Old Town Hall

Dacorum’s theatre on the High Street has a Halloween strand this year: Hauntings on 21 October, Rumpus Theatre’s ghost play The Haunted Bride on 23 October and a screening of the horror film Weapons (18) on 28 October. Box office: 01442 228091 (The Old Town Hall).

Still to be confirmed

  • The Old Town Halloween programme beyond the start, finish and fireworks times. The council says more detail will follow; this page will add it.
  • We found no 2026 listing from any pumpkin patch inside Dacorum itself. If your farm is running one, email hello@hemelhempsteadlive.co.uk with a link to your own page.

Bonfire night follows a week later, with four displays from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November: see our fireworks page. Everything else on in town is on our What’s On this month page.

Sources

All read on 3 October 2026.