Halloween in Dulwich lands on Saturday 31 October: Velodrome fireworks at 7pm, the Horniman's Day of the Dead, plus pub pumpkin carving from £4.50 a child.

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, the last day of October half term, and almost everything in and around Dulwich is on that one day. The big draw is the bonfire and fireworks at Herne Hill Velodrome, with the fireworks at 7pm. The Horniman’s Day of the Dead runs all day and into the evening, and two pubs are running pumpkin carving in half-term week.

The quick answer

  • Fireworks: Herne Hill Velodrome, Saturday 31 October, gates 5pm, fireworks 7pm. £13 adults, £8 ages 12 to 16, £1 under-12s, plus a booking fee. Advance tickets only.
  • Daytime: Day of the Dead at the Horniman (11am to 4pm, adults £8) and mask making at Dulwich Picture Gallery (11am to 3pm, £6 a child).
  • Pumpkin carving: the Crown and Greyhound for kids on Tuesday 27 October (£5) and adults on Thursday 29 October (£20). The Plough on Lordship Lane for kids on Saturday 31 October (£4.50).
  • Not happening: no council Halloween event in Dulwich Park or Peckham Rye Park has been announced, and we found no pumpkin patch in Southwark.

Saturday 31 October at a glance

Time What Where Price
11am to 3pm Halloween mask making Dulwich Picture Gallery £6 a child
11am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm Wild Life Drawing: Owls Dulwich Picture Gallery £60 for one adult and one child
11am to 4pm Day of the Dead family festival Horniman, Forest Hill £8 adult, £6 child
2pm to 5pm Kids’ pumpkin carving The Plough, East Dulwich £4.50 a child
5pm to 9.30pm Halloween bonfire and fireworks Herne Hill Velodrome £13 adult, £8 12 to 16, £1 under-12
7pm to 10.30pm Day of the Dead evening fiesta, 18+ Horniman, Forest Hill £22

Herne Hill Velodrome Halloween fireworks

The Friends of Herne Hill Velodrome run a bonfire and fireworks night on the track at 104 Burbage Road SE24 on Saturday 31 October 2026. Their running order:

  • 5pm gates open
  • 5.45pm fancy dress competition
  • 6pm bonfire lit
  • 6.20pm fire eaters
  • 7pm fireworks
  • 7.20pm LED dance show
  • 9.30pm close

Tickets are £13 for adults (plus a £1 booking fee), £8 for 12 to 16-year-olds (plus 75p) and £1 for under-12s (plus 50p), and under-12s must be with an adult. The fee is charged on each ticket. Tickets are only sold in advance, so do not turn up hoping to pay at the gate. The Friends say the event is wheelchair accessible but ask you to contact them first (friends@hhvt.org). No alcohol, glass or food can be brought in; food and drink stalls are on site. Refunds are only given if the event is cancelled.

The money raised goes to the velodrome, which is run by a registered charity.

The Dulwich Sports Club display a week later, on Saturday 7 November, and how the two compare, are on our Dulwich fireworks page.

Day of the Dead at the Horniman

The Horniman in Forest Hill, a short bus ride from East Dulwich, marks Día de Muertos with MexiBrit on Halloween itself.

  • Day of the Dead Family Festival, 11am to 4pm. Performances, activities and a market of Mexican and Latin American traders, in and around the Conservatory in the gardens. Adults £8, under-16s £6, under-2s free, but every member of the group, babies included, needs a ticket, and booking is in advance. On 3 October the museum’s page still read “Tickets coming soon”. It is outdoors and goes ahead whatever the weather, with no refunds for rain. Dogs on leads are welcome.
  • Day of the Dead Evening Fiesta, 7pm to 10.30pm. For adults only: a welcome cocktail, candlelit altars, live music including the Venezuelan singer Luzmira Zerpa, a Sonidero DJ and street food from Taco Bros. £22, 18+ only, advance booking required.

Two family sessions at the gallery on Gallery Road, both on Saturday 31 October, from its what’s on listings:

  • Halloween Mask Making, 11am to 3pm. A Day of the Dead mask workshop for all ages. £6 a child, £1 on Universal Credit.
  • Wild Life Drawing: Owls, 11am and 2pm sessions. Draw unusual owl species with the artist Jennie Webber. £60 for one adult and one child, £30 for each extra child.

Pumpkin carving in the pubs

Both pubs sell places through their booking pages on DesignMyNight, and the price there includes a small booking fee on top of the price in the description.

  • Kids’ Halloween Pumpkin Carving, the Crown and Greyhound, 73 Dulwich Village, Tuesday 27 October, 12pm to 3pm. For under-16s. £5 a pumpkin and carving kit (£5.50 on the booking page). The pub calls it its annual Halloween carving.
  • Boo-zy Pumpkin Carving, the Crown and Greyhound, Thursday 29 October, 7pm to 9pm. Over-18s only. £20 (£22 on the booking page), which includes a glass of house wine, prosecco or a pint, and the best pumpkin wins a £20 gift card.
  • Kids Pumpkin Carving, The Plough, 381 Lordship Lane, Saturday 31 October, 2pm to 5pm. £4.50 a child (£4.95 on the booking page), pumpkin included. The pub says spaces are limited.

Earlier in October: Nunhead Cemetery

The Friends of Nunhead Cemetery list a London Month of the Dead tour on Saturday 17 October at 11am, a Black History Month tour on Sunday 18 October at 2pm and a fungi foray on Saturday 24 October at 2pm. The Friends’ own tours are free and need no booking unless stated; check the Month of the Dead listing with them before you go. The cemetery closes at 5pm in October.

What is not on

  • No council Halloween event. We found nothing announced for Dulwich Park or Peckham Rye Park this year. We will add one if it appears.
  • No pumpkin patch nearby. We found no pick-your-own pumpkin field in Southwark; the nearest are outside London.
  • Theatre Peckham has no Halloween show in its programme to the end of October.

Getting there

Herne Hill Velodrome has no parking, and the Friends say parking nearby is limited. Herne Hill, North Dulwich and West Dulwich stations are all a short walk away; buses 3 and 201 stop at Croxted Road/Turney Road, and the 37 at Half Moon Lane/Burbage Road. The Horniman is on London Road, Forest Hill SE23. Our parking in Dulwich page has the zone hours, and Dulwich roadworks and travel has anything closed on the way in.

Sources

All read on 3 October 2026: the Friends of Herne Hill Velodrome’s Halloween fireworks page; the Horniman’s family festival and evening fiesta pages; Dulwich Picture Gallery’s what’s on listings; the Crown and Greyhound’s and The Plough’s booking pages on DesignMyNight, linked above; and the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery’s tour programme.