Dulwich October half term is 26 to 30 October, or from 19 October at some schools. Owls, origami, a Day of the Dead festival and free options, with prices.

October half term in Dulwich is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026 for Southwark and Lambeth community schools. But Kingsdale, the Charter School East Dulwich and Harris Girls’ East Dulwich break a week earlier, from Monday 19 October, and the independent schools stay off until Friday 6 November. Our term dates page has the school-by-school table.

Below is what is actually on nearby in the main week, from each venue’s own listings, with the prices they publish.

The quick answer

  • Free all week: the Horniman Museum and Gardens, open daily 10am to 5.30pm, and the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s collection for under-18s.
  • Big day out: Saturday 31 October. Owls at the Picture Gallery, Day of the Dead mask making for £6, and the Horniman’s Day of the Dead family festival (adults £8, children £6).
  • Book ahead for the Octonauts sessions, Club Origami, the Enchanted Cinema and the owl drawing class: all are ticketed sessions at set times.

Day by day

Day What Where Price
Sun 25 Oct The Enchanted Cinema, 11.30am and 1.30pm Horniman £10 child, £10 adult
Mon 26 Oct The Enchanted Cinema, 10am, 12pm, 2pm Horniman £10 child, £10 adult
Mon 26 Oct Club Origami dance show, 10.30am and 12pm Dulwich Picture Gallery £12 adult, £12 child
Tue 27 and Wed 28 Oct Octonauts storytelling and craft, 10am, 11.15am, 1pm, 2.15pm Horniman £8.50 per child with one adult
Sat 31 Oct Halloween mask making, 11am to 3pm Dulwich Picture Gallery £6 per child
Sat 31 Oct Wild Life Drawing: Owls, 11am and 2pm Dulwich Picture Gallery £60 for one adult and one child
Sat 31 Oct Day of the Dead family festival, 11am to 4pm Horniman £8 adult, £6 child, under-2s free
Sat 31 Oct Family Space with Sadie St Hilaire, 11am to 1pm South London Gallery, Peckham Free
All week Voyage to the Deep, until Sunday 1 November Horniman from £7 child, £9.80 adult
All week Hokusai: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, from 20 October Dulwich Picture Gallery from £21.50 adult, under-18s free

The gallery on Gallery Road is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, according to its visit page. Under-18s go free to exhibitions and the collection.

  • Club Origami, Monday 26 October at 10.30am and 12pm. An interactive dance show about a land made of paper, with live music. £12 for adults and children alike, and the ticket includes the ArtPlay Pavilion.
  • Halloween Mask Making, Saturday 31 October, 11am to 3pm. A Day of the Dead mask workshop for all ages. £6 per child, £1 on Universal Credit. Children must be with an adult.
  • Wild Life Drawing: Owls, Saturday 31 October, 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm. Draw a barn owl, an eagle owl and a great grey owl, led by the artist Jennie Webber. £60 for one adult and one child, £30 for each extra child.
  • Hokusai opens on Tuesday 20 October: the complete Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, shown in full in the UK for the first time, including The Great Wave. Adults from £21.50.
  • ArtPlay Pavilion, the play space for under-8s, is open daily from 9am to 4.45pm. Sessions are £9 per child, including up to two adults.

More on the gallery’s winter season: Dulwich Picture Gallery this winter.

Horniman Museum and Gardens, Forest Hill

Just over the Lewisham boundary in Forest Hill. The museum and gardens are free to visit, and the museum is open daily, 10am to 5.30pm, according to its visit page. Paid events:

  • The Enchanted Cinema: The Music of Spirit Animals, Sunday 25 and Monday 26 October. Children make the live soundtrack to animations with instruments and sound effects. Ages 5 to 12. £10 per child and £10 per adult; babes in arms free.
  • Octonauts Storytelling and Craft, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 October. A story, then a 3D coral reef made from recycled paper. Ages 4 to 7, in the Pavilion by the Bandstand. £8.50 per child, including one adult.
  • Day of the Dead Family Festival, Saturday 31 October, 11am to 4pm. Mexican performances, activities and an artisan market in the gardens. Adults £8, children under 16 £6, under-2s free.
  • Voyage to the Deep closes on Sunday 1 November, so half term is the last chance. Children from £7, adults from £9.80, family of four £27, £2 on Universal Credit.

The free Family Space with Sadie St Hilaire runs on the last Saturday of each month from September to November, 11am to 1pm, for children aged 5 to 12 with an adult. October’s last Saturday is 31 October. Drop in, or register in advance.

If your school breaks on 19 October

Children at Kingsdale, Charter East Dulwich and Harris Girls’ get the week of 19 October too. Two dated things fall in it: Hokusai opens at the Picture Gallery on Tuesday 20 October, and the Picture Gallery’s Curtain Up! display of theatre portraits closes on Sunday 25 October. The Horniman is free and open daily in both weeks.

Still to be confirmed

  • Southwark libraries’ half-term sessions, which the council lists nearer the time.
  • Any Halloween events in Dulwich Park or Peckham Rye Park: none announced yet.

We will update this page in mid-October.