Redbridge half term is 26 to 30 October. The free Festival of the Dead parade leaves Ilford's Central Library at 5pm on the Friday; swim crash courses are £45.

October half term in Redbridge is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026, and the borough’s biggest thing that week is free: the Festival of the Dead, at Wanstead Library on the Thursday and Redbridge Central Library in Ilford on the Friday. The rest of the week is mostly Vision Redbridge’s paid courses and workshops, which are already on sale.

Everything here is from the council and from Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure’s own event listings, checked on 25 September 2026.

The quick answer

Half term is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October for schools on the council’s calendar. Bancroft’s breaks from 19 October and Seven Kings School from Thursday 22 October.

The free headline is the Festival of the Dead: Thursday 29 October at Wanstead Library and Friday 30 October at Redbridge Central Library, 12pm to 6pm. Paid options include swim crash courses (£45 for five days), a watersports camp at Fairlop (£250 for the week) and the Owls Halloween party (£10 a child).

Updated 5 October: four more library sessions added, a free Solve the Mystery trail on Monday 26 October, two £4 robotics workshops on the Tuesday and a £4 LEGO train workshop on the Friday.

Updated 3 October: Vision has published the Ilford Festival of the Dead programme. The light-up parade leaves Redbridge Central Library at 5pm on Friday 30 October, and Wanstead’s starts at 5pm on the Thursday. Full Halloween listings are on our Ilford Halloween page.

Updated 28 September: a Halloween Trail at Hainault Forest is now confirmed for Friday 30 October (£10 a child), and all three Woodford Green bonfire night displays are on sale.

Is it half term this week at my school?

The council’s term dates page sets 26 to 30 October. Academies, grammars and independents set their own, and two of the big ones differ. Bancroft’s has a two-week break from Monday 19 October. Seven Kings School starts half term on Thursday 22 October. Valentines High has INSET days on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 November, so its pupils are not back until Wednesday 4 November. The full school-by-school table is on our Redbridge term dates page.

What’s on in half term week

In date order. Prices and times are Vision Redbridge’s own.

When What Where Price
Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct, 9am to 11.30am Swim crash courses, Ducklings to stage 3, ages 3 to 17 Loxford and Mayfield leisure centres £45 for five 30-minute sessions
Mon 26 to Fri 30 Oct, 9.30am to 4pm Watersports camp: sailing, kayaking, canoeing, raft building, ages 8+ Fairlop Outdoor Activity Centre £250 week, £50 a day
Mon 26 Oct, 11am to 3pm Solve the Mystery, a library detective trail, ages 5+, just turn up Redbridge Central Library Free
Mon 26 to Wed 28 Oct, 11am to 1pm Build and code a car robot, ages 10 to 14, all three sessions Fullwell Cross Library £5 for the course
Tue 27 and Thu 29 Oct Ready Set Ride, learn to ride, ages 3 to 6 Redbridge Cycling Centre £35 for two sessions, bike and helmet included
Tue 27 Oct, 11am to 1pm Build a remote-controlled robotic hand, ages 11 to 15 Redbridge Central Library £4
Tue 27 Oct, 2pm to 4pm Industrial automation with robot arms, ages 11 to 15 Redbridge Central Library £4
Wed 28 Oct, 9.30am to 12.30pm BMX skills, ages 6 to 14, must ride standing up Redbridge Cycling Centre £30
Wed 28 Oct, 1.30pm to 4.30pm Mountain bike skills, ages 6 to 14 Redbridge Cycling Centre £25, plus £8 bike hire
Wed 28 Oct, 11am to 1pm Code an AI motion-controlled game, ages 9 to 12 Redbridge Central Library £4
Thu 29 Oct, 12pm to 6pm Festival of the Dead, Wanstead Wanstead Library Free
Fri 30 Oct, 12pm to 6pm Festival of the Dead, Ilford Redbridge Central Library Free
Fri 30 Oct, 10.30am to 12.30pm LEGO train engineering, ages 10 to 13 Fullwell Cross Library £4
Fri 30 Oct, 1pm to 3pm Family LEGO railway challenge, ages 6 to 9 Fullwell Cross Library £4
Fri 30 Oct, 10am to 4pm Halloween Trail: games, crafts, hot chocolate, pumpkin and costume competitions Hainault Forest £10 a child, booked through Bookwhen
Fri 30 Oct, 3.30pm and 6pm; Sat 31 Oct, 6pm Owls Halloween party: soft play, fancy dress, face painting Owls Play Centre, Fairlop Waters, IG6 3HN £10 a child, £3 an adult
Sat 31 Oct and Sun 1 Nov, 10am to 4pm Foxburrows Barn Market, independent makers’ stalls Hainault Forest Free entry
Sat 31 Oct, 11am to 11.45am Halloween craft, ages 4 to 7, drop in Fullwell Cross or Hainault Library Free

The Festival of the Dead

This is the one to plan the week around. Redbridge Libraries has run it for several years as part of its Death Positive Library work, and this year it has £55,000 from Arts Council England behind it. Vision’s announcement on 31 July promised workshops, storytelling, lantern-making, music, large-scale puppetry and “large-scale parade activity”, with the programme co-designed by a steering group of children and young people.

The confirmed shape is two days: Thursday 29 October at Wanstead Library and Friday 30 October at Redbridge Central Library in Ilford, both 12pm to 6pm, free. Vision’s listing says “full details of our exciting programme coming soon”. Items already listed for the Ilford day include a Day of the Dead ofrenda, where visitors draw or write about someone who has died, and a touch tour and live audio description of the parade by VocalEyes for blind and partially sighted visitors, starting at 4.30pm at the Central Library.

Free things that are open anyway

  • Valentines Mansion is open Sunday 25 and Monday 26 October, 12pm to 5pm, free. From November it switches to winter hours, 11am to 3pm. More on our Valentines Mansion winter page.
  • Library clubs keep running through the week: Lego clubs on Saturdays at Goodmayes, Seven Kings, Wanstead and Keith Axon libraries, and CoderDojo at Gants Hill and Fullwell Cross, all on Vision’s events listing.

What is still to be confirmed

  • The Festival of the Dead running order and parade time: now published. Updated 3 October: the Ilford light-up parade runs 5pm to 5.45pm on Friday 30 October, with stilt walkers and Mexican folk dancers, and the day carries face painting (£4 a child), £2.50 mask and flower crown workshops and a free costume competition. Vision has not published the parade route. The full list is on our Ilford Halloween page.
  • Hainault Forest Halloween trail: now confirmed. Updated 28 September: Vision has listed a Halloween Trail at Hainault Forest on Friday 30 October, 10am to 4pm, £10 a child, with games, crafts, hot chocolate and prizes for the best pumpkin and costume. It is a single day this year; last year’s Spooky Trail ran over three days, 31 October to 2 November 2025, at £5 a ticket.
  • Bonfire night is the week after half term. Updated 28 September: Woodford Rugby Club (Friday 6 November), Wanstead RFC and the Woodford Wells Club (both Saturday 7 November) now have tickets on sale. Times and prices are on our Ilford fireworks page.
  • Trains. Nothing is booked on the Elizabeth line through Ilford during half term week. On Saturday 31 October there are late-night changes at the Paddington end only. Ilford roadworks and travel has the rest.

Sources