Cambridge's October half term is 26 to 30 October. Twenty things on, most free: seven festival films incl. a Wicked sing-along, a Fitzwilliam family day.
October half term for Cambridgeshire’s maintained schools runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Several Cambridge schools break earlier, so check yours on our Cambridge school term dates page: Hills Road Sixth Form College and the Leys finish on Friday 16 October, and Chesterton, Long Road, King’s College School and the Perse finish between 21 and 22 October.
The University of Cambridge Museums have published their half term programme, and most of it is free. Everything below comes from the organisers’ own listings, checked on 25 September 2026.
The quick answer
- Dates: county schools are off Monday 26 to Friday 30 October.
- Biggest free day: the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Family Day, Wednesday 28 October, 10.30am to 3.30pm, no booking.
- All week: the Botanic Garden’s Magpies’ Magic Forest trail, free with Garden entry, and under-17s get in free.
Updated 5 October: three more free family films now have times (The Secret Garden on 25 October, a Wicked sing-a-long on 27 October, Ron’s Gone Wrong on 28 October), and the Polar Museum has added two free all-ages workshops on 28 October.
Updated 28 September: the Cambridge Film Festival’s free Family Film Festival has published four half term morning screenings at the Arts Picturehouse, now in the table. We have removed the Fitzwilliam’s Halloween Crafternoon, which turns out to be for adults (18+) only.
Things to do, day by day
| Day | What | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 23 Oct to Mon 2 Nov | Magpies’ Magic Forest trail, 10am to 5pm | Botanic Garden | Free with entry |
| Sat 24 Oct to Sun 1 Nov | Garden highlight tours 11.30am, plant talks 1.30pm | Botanic Garden | Free with entry |
| Sat 24 Oct | Skeleton Science, 1pm to 4pm | Whipple Museum | Free, drop in |
| Sat 24 Oct | Beauty and the Beast, relaxed screening, 11am | Arts Picturehouse | Free |
| Sun 25 Oct | Studio Sunday family workshop, 1pm to 4pm | Kettle’s Yard | Free |
| Sun 25 Oct | The Secret Garden, relaxed screening, 11am | Arts Picturehouse | Free |
| Mon 26 Oct | Polar Stories, 10am to 11.15am, ages 4 to 8 | Polar Museum | Free, book |
| Mon 26 Oct | Skeleton Science, 1pm to 4pm | Whipple Museum | Free, drop in |
| Tue 27 Oct | Wicked sing-a-long, relaxed screening, 11am | Arts Picturehouse | Free |
| Wed 28 Oct | October Half Term Family Day, 10.30am to 3.30pm | Fitzwilliam Museum | Free |
| Wed 28 Oct | Meet the Greeks, 10am to 1pm | Museum of Classical Archaeology | Free |
| Wed 28 Oct | Blackout Poetry, 10am to 11am, all ages | Polar Museum | Free, book |
| Wed 28 Oct | Make your own Polar Postcard, 11.15am to 12.15pm | Polar Museum | Free, book |
| Wed 28 Oct | Ron’s Gone Wrong, relaxed screening, 11am | Arts Picturehouse | Free |
| Wed 28 and Thu 29 Oct | Evolution Expedition, 10am to 1pm | Sedgwick Museum | Free |
| Wed 28 Oct | Holiday workshop for ages 7 to 11, 10am to 12.30pm | Kettle’s Yard | Book |
| Thu 29 Oct | Holiday workshop for ages 11 to 16, 10am to 2.30pm | Kettle’s Yard | Book |
| Thu 29 Oct | Little Women, relaxed screening, 11am | Arts Picturehouse | Free |
| Fri 30 Oct | Freakier Friday, relaxed screening, 11am | Arts Picturehouse | Free |
| Sat 31 Oct | Addams Family Values, relaxed screening, 11am | Arts Picturehouse | Free |
The detail
Fitzwilliam Museum Family Day, Wednesday 28 October. The Fitzwilliam’s listing describes artist-led activities for all ages through the galleries, free, with the “exact programme TBC”. On any day you visit, a Family Trolley in the Courtyard area lends out drawing activities, story starters and loose parts play bags. The Fitzwilliam’s new exhibition, A Call to Art: William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, opens on 23 October with tickets from £16. The permanent collection is free.
The Botanic Garden all week. The Magpies’ Magic Forest trail runs from 23 October to 2 November: pick up a free trail sheet at a ticket office, find seven boards about the folklore of British trees, then collect the magpies’ golden stamp. It is aimed at ages 8 and up. The autumn tours and talks run daily from 24 October to 1 November: a 60-minute highlights tour at 11.30am, limited to 12 people per guide and not recommended for under-12s, and a 15-minute plant talk at 1.30pm, both starting from the orange flag on the Main Lawn. The Garden’s ticket page lists adult entry on the day at £8.60, or £9.50 with a voluntary donation, and children up to 16 go free.
Skeleton Science at the Whipple, 24 and 26 October. A drop-in session on bones and X-rays, with a five-minute talk at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm, according to the Whipple’s listing. No booking. The front entrance has steps; the rear entrance has the lift.
Polar Stories, Monday 26 October. Half an hour of Arctic and Antarctic picture books read by a former primary teacher, then an out-of-hours visit to the Polar Museum with a trail and object handling. Aimed at 4 to 8 year olds, and the Polar Museum says booking is essential.
Two Polar Museum workshops, Wednesday 28 October. Both take their cue from the museum’s Polar Panoramas display and are listed as free and for all ages, with a “Book here” link: Blackout Poetry from 10am to 11am, making found poems from existing text, then Make your own Polar Postcard from 11.15am to 12.15pm.
Meet the Greeks, Wednesday 28 October. At the Museum of Classical Archaeology on Sidgwick Avenue, children can weave like Athena, make a helmet like Ares and handle replica Greek objects, the museum says. Free.
Evolution Expedition, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October. Hands-on fossil activities at the Sedgwick Museum with University Earth Sciences researchers, plus a trail with a prize at the shop, per the listing. Free and drop-in, 10am to 1pm.
Kettle’s Yard. Its what’s on page lists a free Studio Sunday on 25 October (1pm to 4pm, with a relaxed session from noon for children with additional sensory needs) and two bookable holiday workshops: “An Open Book” with artist Ian Brownlie for 7 to 11 year olds on 28 October, and “Taking Notice” with Monique Kaur Kellay for 11 to 16 year olds on 29 October.
Free family films at the Arts Picturehouse. The Cambridge Film Festival, which runs from 22 October to 1 November, shows free family films at 11am across half term, from The Secret Garden on Sunday 25 October to Addams Family Values on Saturday 31 October, including a sing-a-long Wicked (PG, 160 minutes) on Tuesday 27 October. They are relaxed screenings with the house lights low and the volume down, with crafts in the cinema restaurant an hour before, the festival says. Full details on our Cambridge Film Festival page.
Also that week
- Halloween falls on the Saturday, 31 October: pumpkin picking, Zombie Fest and more on our Cambridge Halloween page.
- Fireworks Night is the following Thursday, 5 November, on Midsummer Common: see our Cambridge Fireworks Night page.
- For year-round ideas, see things to do in Cambridge.
- Driving in: our parking in Cambridge page covers the car parks and Park and Ride, and roadworks and travel lists closures.
What is still to be confirmed
- The Fitzwilliam’s Family Day programme, marked “TBC”.
- Family shows at the city’s theatres and venues for half term week, which were not yet listed on 25 September.
This page will be updated in mid-October as more listings appear.
Sources
- University of Cambridge Museums, What’s on and the individual event pages linked above, checked 25 September 2026; Family Day and Polar Museum pages rechecked 5 October 2026
- Cambridge University Botanic Garden, What’s on and Book tickets, checked 25 September 2026
- Kettle’s Yard, What’s on, checked 25 September 2026
- Cambridge Film Festival, Family Film Festival and the film pages for The Secret Garden, Wicked and Ron’s Gone Wrong, checked 5 October 2026
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