Bromley October Half Term Is Two Weeks: 19 to 30 October

Bromley’s autumn half term is Monday 19 October to Friday 30 October 2026. That is a fortnight, not a week, and the first of the two weeks starts on 19 October. Term ends on Friday 16 October and children go back on Monday 2 November.

Updated 2 October: Crystal Palace Park has added Irvin’s Funfair for the whole second week, 23 October to 1 November, free entry. Fanny Galore’s bingo on 22 October has sold out.

Two consequences worth planning around. Halloween, Saturday 31 October, falls the day after half term finishes, so the spookiest weekend of the year is a normal weekend with school the following Monday. And the clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, in the middle of the break, which takes an hour of daylight off every afternoon in the second week.

The dates, and the schools they do not apply to

The council sets these dates for maintained and voluntary controlled schools only. Its own term dates page says academies, foundation schools, voluntary aided schools and free schools set their own, and it tells parents to check with the individual school. Check your school’s own calendar before you book anything with a date on it.

What is already bookable

The Churchill Theatre has a fortnight of programming with prices attached, taken from its own booking pages on 6 September and rechecked on 2 October.

The Hare and the Tortoise on 20 and 21 October is the only thing in the borough billed as a family show in the first week, and at £14 it is the cheapest ticket of the fortnight. Christmas Carol Goes Wrong runs the whole of the second week and closes on Halloween itself.

Chislehurst Caves, open every day of the break

The caves at Old Hill, Chislehurst BR7 5NL, a mile and a half from Bromley town centre, are normally open Wednesday to Sunday but open every day during local school holidays. Their own site is explicit that the exception is Christmas and New Year, so the October fortnight is covered.

• Entry is by lamp-lit guided tour only, leaving on the hour, first at 10am and last at 4pm, running 45 to 50 minutes.
• Adult 16 to 63 £10, senior 64 and over £8, child 3 to 15 £8. Under-3s go free on public tours, though the caves warn they may find it intimidating. No unaccompanied children.
• You can book online or buy at the ticket office on arrival, subject to space. Busy tours are capped at 40 people. Free car and coach parking.
• The floor is uneven and cobble-like, so pushchairs and wheelchairs are difficult, and the caves say they may not suit anyone with claustrophobia, a fear of the dark or a fear of mannequins.

The caves do advertise seasonal Halloween and spooky story tours, but they publish no dates, times or prices for them. Their spooky tours page carries nothing but a phone number, 020 8467 3264. If you want one, ring rather than wait for a listing.

A free half term day out at Bishop Justus

Bromley SEND Local Offer Live! runs on Thursday 29 October, 10am to 2pm, at Bishop Justus School, Magpie Hall Lane BR2 8HZ, two miles from the town centre. It is free. The council lists arts and crafts, dance and drama, music, indoor sports and a pop-up arcade, alongside the chance to talk to services directly. It is aimed at children and young people with SEND and their families, and it is the only free family event on the council’s own events calendar inside the half term.

Crystal Palace Park: a Halloween funfair and free Sunday music

The park published its October programme after this page first went up. Irvin’s Funfair runs from Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November on Palace Terrace, entered from Crystal Palace Parade by the bus terminal, SE19 1UA: 4pm to 10pm on the Friday, then 1pm to 10pm every day. Entry is free and you buy ride tokens online or at the fair. The park bills it as “classic funfair entertainment, with a Halloween twist”, and some paths may be uneven or muddy (Crystal Palace Park).

The park’s free Sunday Sounds on the Concert Platform fall either side of the break’s middle weekend: the Endurance Steel Orchestra on Sunday 18 October and Swimmers Jackson on Sunday 25 October, both 2pm to 4pm, drop-in and not ticketed (Crystal Palace Park what’s on).

Still not published

The rest of the borough’s big venues, rechecked on 2 October, two and a half weeks out.

• The Glades: its events page has nothing for October half term. The newest event is Spirit of Bromley Community Week, which ran 21 to 27 September.
• Bromley libraries, run by Better: no October dates listed.
• Beckenham Place Park: the newest half-term entry on its events page is still last year’s pair of ranger-led bat walks on 28 and 29 October 2025. Nothing for 2026.
• Chislehurst Caves: the spooky story tours page still gives no dates, times or prices, only the phone number.

We will add each of them here as it appears.

Getting about

Rates and which town centre car park is cheapest are on our parking in Bromley page, and any roadworks in the way are on Bromley roadworks and travel. Chislehurst Caves has its own free car park, which is the strongest practical argument for doing that one on a wet day.

For the rest of the autumn, the borough’s four firework displays are all on Saturday 7 November and are covered on our Bromley fireworks and bonfire night page, and there is more in things to do in Bromley.

Sources

• School term dates 2026/27 and school term dates, London Borough of Bromley
• Churchill Theatre Bromley what’s on
• Chislehurst Caves, its plan your visit and spooky story tours pages
• Bromley SEND Local Offer Live!, London Borough of Bromley
• Crystal Palace Park what’s on and Irvin’s Funfair, The Glades events, Bromley libraries events and Beckenham Place Park events

First checked 6 September 2026; rechecked 2 October 2026.