Five Tonbridge secondaries break up on 16 October, not 23, so most families get 19 to 30 October. What is on each week, what it costs, and the rail closure.
Kent County Council’s October half term is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. For most secondary pupils in Tonbridge it is two weeks, not one. Tonbridge Grammar, Weald of Kent, Leigh Academy Tonbridge, Leigh Academy Hugh Christie and Tonbridge School all break up on Friday 16 October and none reopens before Monday 2 November. Judd, Hillview and The Malling School stay in until 22 or 23 October and take the county’s week.
The two weeks are not alike. In the first, 19 to 23 October, the county’s schools and every primary are still in lessons and the town is quiet. The second is Kent’s own week, when Oktoberfest, the artisan market, the leisure centre programme and the Halloween events all land, and the railway through Tonbridge is shut. Every date and price here comes from the school’s, the council’s or the organiser’s own website, checked on 25 September 2026.
The quick answer
- Two-week break, 19 to 30 October: Tonbridge Grammar, Weald of Kent, both Leigh academies and Tonbridge School. One week, 26 to 30 October: Judd, The Malling School, and Hillview (which adds INSET days on 23 October and 2 November).
- The Hastings line through Tonbridge is closed for nine days from Saturday 24 October, over the whole of Kent’s week.
- Booked things: the Leybourne Lakes Halloween trail on Saturday 24 October (£6 a child), half-price swimming courses at Tonbridge Pool 26 to 30 October (£34.80 for five days), and Oktoberfest at the Racecourse Sportsground on 23 and 24 October (adults, from £20).
Updated 3 October: Hever Castle’s Halloween trail (17 October to 1 November) and Penshurst Place’s (24 October to 1 November) are now confirmed; Tonbridge Castle and the council trails are still unannounced. Full details on our Halloween page.
Whose half term is it?
The county’s determined dates put Term 1 from Tuesday 1 September to Friday 23 October, the holiday from 26 to 30 October and Term 2 starting Monday 2 November (Kent County Council). Those bind only the schools Kent maintains. Academies, grammars and independents set their own, and in Tonbridge that is most of them. Our term dates page has all eight secondary calendars side by side, with the INSET days.
| School | Off from | Back on |
|---|---|---|
| Leigh Academy Tonbridge | Mon 19 October | Mon 2 November |
| Leigh Academy Hugh Christie | Mon 19 October | Mon 2 November |
| Tonbridge Grammar School | Mon 19 October | Mon 2 November |
| Weald of Kent Grammar School | Mon 19 October | Tue 3 November |
| Tonbridge School | Sat 17 October, 12.45pm | Sun 1 November, 9pm |
| Hillview School for Girls | Fri 23 October | Tue 3 November |
| The Judd School | Mon 26 October | Mon 2 November |
| The Malling School | Mon 26 October | Mon 2 November |
The railway is shut for Kent’s week
Engineering work closes the Hastings line for nine days from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November. Trains from London terminate at Sevenoaks or Tonbridge and buses cover the gap. If a day out in London or on the coast is part of the plan, put it in the first week. The detail is on our autumn rail closures page.
What is on, and what it costs
| What | When | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hever Castle Halloween trail, craft and science show | Daily, 17 October to 1 November | Hever, near Edenbridge | Included with admission (adult £25.50, child £14.05 online) |
| Penshurst Place Beware the Bad Apple! trail and crafts | Daily, 24 October to 1 November | Penshurst | Included with admission (adult £17, child £9.50) |
| Oktoberfest (adults) | Fri 23 and Sat 24 October | Tonbridge Racecourse Sportsground | From £20 |
| Spooky Halloween Trail | Sat 24 October, 5pm to 7pm | Leybourne Lakes Country Park | £6 per child |
| Tonbridge Castle Artisan Market | Sun 25 October, 10am to 4pm | Tonbridge Castle | Free |
| Great Comp Garden, NGS open day | Sun 25 October, 10am to 5pm | Platt, near Borough Green | Garden admission |
| Half-price intensive swimming courses | Mon 26 to Fri 30 October, mornings | Tonbridge Swimming Pool and Larkfield | £34.80 for five days (£25.80 with a priority card) |
| SEN Halloween Bounce | Fri 30 October, 10.30am to noon | Angel Centre | £7.10 (£5.20 with a leisure pass) |
| Tonbridge Castle gatehouse | Daily | Castle Street | £10.90 adult, £7.80 child, under 5s free |
| Tonbridge Fireworks | Sun 1 November, gates 5pm | Racecourse Sportsground | From £8.50 |
Oktoberfest is the borough council’s own listing: 23 and 24 October at the Racecourse Sportsground, “from £20”, and pitched squarely at adults, so it is a night out for the parents rather than a half-term activity (Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council).
The Leybourne Lakes Halloween trail is run by the leisure trust on Saturday 24 October from 5pm to 7pm in five time slots, £6 a child, booked through Eventbrite (tmactive). The same programme has the half-price intensive swimming courses at Tonbridge Swimming Pool (stages 1 to 7) and Larkfield Leisure Centre (stages 1 to 5) from 26 to 30 October, with lessons between 8am and 10am staggered by stage, at £34.80 for the five days or £25.80 with a priority card. Tonbridge Pool also lists one-to-one courses at £136 to £144. The SEN Halloween Bounce at the Angel Centre on Friday 30 October, 10.30am to noon, is £7.10 or £5.20 with a leisure pass, booked on 01732 359966. The Angel Centre and Larkfield both run activeYOUTH gym sessions for 11 to 15 year olds through the week, and the Angel Centre’s holiday club is run by Play n Grow Childcare.
The artisan market at Tonbridge Castle on Sunday 25 October, 10am to 4pm, is free to walk round: crafts, sweet treats and beauty products with a riverside stroll thrown in (Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council).
Great Comp Garden at Platt is in its last week of the season. It opens daily from 1 March to 31 October, 10am to 5pm with last admission at 4pm, and Sunday 25 October is its National Garden Scheme open day, 10am to 5pm (Great Comp Garden). After 31 October it shuts until March.
Tonbridge Castle is open every day: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4.30pm, weekends 10am to 6pm, last entry an hour before closing. Gatehouse admission from April 2026 is £10.90 for an adult, £7.80 for a child aged 5 to 15 or a senior, £33.30 for a family of four, and free under 5 (Tonbridge Castle). The grounds and the riverside are free.
The fireworks on Sunday 1 November close the fortnight: gates 5pm, display 6.30pm, tickets from £8.50, and the details, including the missing footbridge from Lower Castle Fields, are on our fireworks page.
Halloween at the big houses, and what is still missing
The two historic houses near Tonbridge have published their 2026 programmes. Hever Castle runs a Mad Scientists Halloween trail, a goggles craft and a Dr Frankenstein science show daily from 17 October to 1 November, all included with admission (Hever Castle). Penshurst Place runs its Beware the Bad Apple! trail and Halloween crafts daily from 24 October to 1 November, with storytelling from 26 to 31 October (Penshurst Place). Penshurst closes for the season after 1 November. Times, prices and pumpkin picking are on our Halloween page.
Two things the council ran last October had still not been announced again when we checked on 3 October.
The first was Pumpkins and Pixie Dust, a ticketed 90-minute theatrical trail through Tonbridge Castle from 18 to 26 October 2025, aimed at 3 to 8 year olds. Its event page has been taken down. The second was the free Halloween trails from 18 October to 2 November 2025 at Haysden Country Park, the Racecourse Sportsground and the Woodland Walk from Higham Lane to Frogsbridge, where children collected a worksheet from the noticeboard and hunted for missing letters to spell a spooky word (Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council). Both are the kind of thing the council repeats, and both would start in the first week of the two-week break if it does. We will update this page when the 2026 listings appear.
Free things in the first week
If your school is one of the five, the quiet week is the better one. Haysden Country Park and the Racecourse Sportsground are free and open every day, and the Tudor Trail along the Medway is a flat, largely traffic-free ride for bikes. Our things to do in Tonbridge page has the full list, and the parking page has the car parks with the free first 30 minutes.
Still to be confirmed
- The council’s 2026 Halloween programme at Tonbridge Castle and the park trails: expected on its events page in early October.
- Whether the Racecourse Sportsground trail is affected by the closed footbridge from Lower Castle Fields.
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