Halloween in Ilford 2026: a free Day of the Dead light-up parade from the Central Library at 5pm on 30 October, a £10 Hainault Forest trail and Owls parties.

Halloween in Ilford is built around one free event that most of London does not have: the Festival of the Dead, Redbridge Libraries’ Day of the Dead celebration, which ends with a light-up parade from Redbridge Central Library at 5pm on Friday 30 October. Around it sit a paid Halloween Trail at Hainault Forest, two evenings of Halloween parties at Owls Play Centre and a handful of library crafts. Halloween itself, Saturday 31 October, falls on the last day of half term.

Every time, price and venue below was read on 3 October 2026 from the event listings of Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure, the charity that runs the borough’s libraries, parks and leisure for the council.

The quick answer

  • Festival of the Dead, Ilford: Friday 30 October, 12pm to 6pm, Redbridge Central Library, free. The light-up parade sets off at 5pm, with stilt walkers and Mexican folk dancers.
  • Festival of the Dead, Wanstead: Thursday 29 October, 12pm to 6pm, Wanstead Library, free, with its own parade at 5pm.
  • Halloween Trail, Hainault Forest: Friday 30 October, 10am to 4pm, £10 a child, booked online.
  • Owls Halloween Party: Friday 30 October (3.30pm and 6pm) and Saturday 31 October (6pm), £10 a child, £3 an adult.
  • There is no pick-your-own pumpkin patch in Redbridge. We could not find one listed by any farm in the borough for 2026.

Updated 5 October: Vision has added a free mariachi duo, a drop-in craft and a dance workshop to Wanstead’s day, and the same dance workshop to Ilford’s.

Festival of the Dead: the parade on Friday 30 October

The Ilford day runs from 12pm to 6pm at Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, IG1 1EA, and entry is free (Vision Redbridge). Vision describes it as “two days of vibrant family-friendly activities exploring life, death and different customs from around the world”, and this year it is funded by Arts Council England.

The parade is the part to time your visit around. Vision’s listing for the festival’s stilt walkers gives it as a “light up parade” from 5pm to 5.45pm. Before it, between 3.15pm and 4pm, the pair stroll between the library and Ilford High Street. The This is Mexico! folk dance troupe performs at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm, the last slot as part of the parade. Vision has not yet published the route.

What else is on at the library that afternoon, all from Vision’s own listings:

Time What Price
12.30pm to 4.30pm Who Is Death?, a drop-in clay craft with the artist Tess Tallula Free
12.45pm, 2pm and 3.15pm Sugar skull mask or flower crown workshop, one hour, to wear in the parade. Not for under 5s; booking essential £2.50 a person
1pm to 4pm Face painting, “glamorous or gruesome” skulls, pay at the welcome desk, no pre-booking £4 a child, £5 an adult
1pm to 5pm Costume competition, prizes for adults and children Free
1.45pm and 3.10pm Dance Me To The End Of Love, a 40-minute dance and drawing workshop with Itzatna Arts, ages 6 and up, booking essential Free
3.30pm to 6pm Accessible craft workshop, touch tour and audio-described parade by VocalEyes, for blind and partially sighted visitors Free

For the costume competition, Vision asks for “brightly coloured clothes inspired by the Day of the Dead”, and suggests skeletons, La Catrinas, Frida Kahlos, party frocks and suits.

Wanstead’s day: Thursday 29 October

The festival opens a day earlier at Wanstead Library, Spratt Hall Road, E11 2RQ, 12pm to 6pm, free. The folk dancers perform there at 3pm, 4pm and 5pm, and Vision’s listing says to “catch them as part of the parade from 5pm”. Vision added three more free Wanstead sessions on 2 and 4 October:

  • the Los Soneros mariachi duo, Latin-American and Cuban music inside and outside the library, at 2pm, 3pm and 4.45pm
  • Wings, Petals, Charms, a drop-in craft from 1pm to 4.30pm for ages 4 and up, making charms for a communal Tree of Life; Vision suggests old clothes because it gets messy
  • Dance Me To The End Of Love, the dance and drawing workshop, at 1.30pm and 2.40pm in the Woodbine Centre next to the library, ages 6 and up, booking essential

Halloween Trail at Hainault Forest: Friday 30 October

Hainault Forest Country Park’s trail runs 10am to 4pm on Friday 30 October and costs £10 a child, booked through Bookwhen from Vision’s listing. The ticket includes hot chocolate with marshmallows, games (pin-the-feature, a witch’s hat toss, bean-bag targets), mask decorating, colouring and pumpkin ornament decorating, plus a photo backdrop. There are prizes for the best decorated pumpkin and the best dressed child.

It is a single day this year. In 2025 Vision ran a Spooky Trail over three days, 31 October to 2 November. The park is on Romford Road, Chigwell, IG7 4QN.

The next afternoon, Saturday 31 October, 1pm to 2.30pm, the park hosts a Pumpkin Bakery Window canvas painting workshop for ages 4 to 16, £22.50.

Owls Halloween Party

Owls Play Centre at Fairlop Waters, IG6 3HN, has three party sessions:

  • Friday 30 October, 3.30pm to 5.30pm
  • Friday 30 October, 6pm to 8pm
  • Saturday 31 October, 6pm to 8pm

Tickets are £10 a child and £3 an adult, and adults must come with a child. Vision promises “spooky entertainment”, soft play, a fancy dress competition, face painting and a toy stall. Booking is through Bookwhen.

Smaller Halloween sessions

  • Ozobot Halloween Maze, Saturday 24 October, 11.15am to 12.15pm, Lab FX at Fullwell Cross Library, ages 7 to 12, £4. Children program small robots through Halloween mazes (Vision).
  • Halloween craft, Saturday 31 October, 11am to 11.45am, at both Fullwell Cross and Hainault libraries, ages 4 to 7. Make a ghost; no booking, materials go first come, first served (Vision).

Is there a pumpkin patch near Ilford?

Not in the borough. We found no pick-your-own pumpkin farm in Redbridge with a 2026 listing, and Hainault Forest’s trail decorates pumpkins rather than picking them. The pumpkin farms that London round-ups recommend are all outside the M25 or across London, so check the farm’s own site for dates and booking before you set off.

What is not announced yet

  • Exchange Ilford. The shopping centre’s events page had nothing for Halloween on 3 October. Its monthly free kids’ club ran on a Saturday in September.
  • Bonfire night is the following week: three Woodford Green clubs have displays on 6 and 7 November, all ticketed. See our Ilford fireworks page.
  • The full half-term week, including swimming crash courses and holiday camps, is on our October half term page.

Getting there and parking

Redbridge Central Library is a few minutes’ walk from Ilford station on the Elizabeth line. If you drive for the parade, the council’s Lynton House and Mildmay Road car parks in Ilford charge until 5.30pm, so an evening arrival costs little; tariffs and the other 16 council car parks are on our parking in Ilford page. Check our roadworks and travel page before you set out.

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