Halloween in Southbourne 2026 — Visit Southbourne

Pumpkin Fest, free family fun & spooky reads

Saturday 31 October 2026 • 10am–4pm • Southbourne Grove

Once the pumpkins start appearing in shop windows and the autumn leaves are blowing along the Grove, you know one of Southbourne’s favourite family events isn’t far away.

This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, and Southbourne Pumpkin Fest is taking over the high street on Saturday 31 October from 10am–4pm.

With the Pumpkin Trail, fancy dress, games, crafts, music, fairground fun and plenty of treats along the way, it’s shaping up to be a brilliant day for anyone looking for Halloween in Southbourne 2026 — especially families searching for Halloween events for kids in Southbourne and free Halloween events in Southbourne.

Southbourne Pumpkin Fest 2026

The heart of the day is the much-loved Pumpkin Trail. Start at Southbourne Green, collect a pumpkin token and then wander along the Grove looking out for pumpkins created by local traders.

When you’ve found your favourite, use your token to cast your vote and help crown Southbourne’s winning pumpkin. There may be a little friendly rivalry once the carving tools come out.

What’s happening on the day?

Southbourne Green: token collection, face painting, music, games and the Penalty Ghost Shootout.
Southbourne Grove: the Pumpkin Trail, local traders, carved pumpkins, Halloween treats and surprises along the way.
Wentworth Avenue: spooky crafts, creepy challenges, funfair rides and Little Monster DJ School with Jungle Cub.
Across the event: pumpkin bowling, apple bobbing, a ghost piñata, storytelling, trick or treating, lucky dips and more.

Halloween treats along Southbourne Grove

Part of the fun of Pumpkin Fest is seeing what Southbourne’s independent businesses come up with for the day. Many of the shops and businesses along the Grove join in with decorated windows, carved pumpkins and sweets for children as they make their way around the trail.

Wild & Ginger, the local bakery and coffee shop, is getting involved with a decorate-your-own Halloween biscuit activity — a suitably sweet stop for little monsters who fancy getting creative.

With treats being handed out by businesses up and down the Grove, it’s worth taking your time rather than rushing from one activity to the next. You never quite know where the next sweet, spooky display or Halloween surprise will be hiding.

Kirsty from BH6 Books picks 5 spooky reads

After all that pumpkin hunting, Halloween calls for a good spooky story. We asked Kirsty from BH6 Books to choose five seasonal reads — with something for little monsters, curious older kids and grown-up ghouls too.

1. Spooky Street — Jonathan Emmett & Ingela P Arrhenius

For little monsters aged 2–5

More colourful than creepy, this clever lift-the-flap alphabet book unfolds into a whole Halloween street. Perfect for small hands, curious minds and anyone who likes their spooky season with considerably more giggles than screams.

2. The Pumpkin Thief — Alice Hemming & Nicola Slater

A funny autumn picture-book mystery

Someone has been making off with Squirrel’s pumpkins… but who? A cheerful little whodunnit full of autumn colour, disappearing pumpkins and enough mystery to keep young detectives suspicious of everyone.

3. The Big Book of Mysteries — Tom Adams & Yas Imamura

For curious readers aged 9–12

Bigfoot, haunted houses, the Bermuda Triangle and more than 100 real-life mysteries: this is one for children who love asking, ‘But what really happened?’ Equal parts fascinating, strange and just spooky enough to make bedtime feel a little more interesting.

4. The Starving Saints — Caitlin Starling

One for the grown-up horror readers

A besieged castle, mysterious saints and feasts that are very definitely not what they seem. Dark, gothic and deliciously unsettling — this is the pick for anyone who wants their Halloween reading with the lights firmly left on.

5. The Witching Hour — ghostly tales for the darkest nights

A grown-up collection of ghost stories

Thirteen original haunted tales from some of today’s best-known storytellers, all circling that peculiar hour after midnight. Best enjoyed curled up somewhere cosy with a hot drink… and perhaps not too far from the light switch.

Make a day of Halloween in Southbourne

One of the nicest things about Pumpkin Fest is that you don’t have to plan every minute of it. Collect your token, follow the trail, dip in and out of the activities and stop wherever takes your fancy.

Grab a coffee or hot chocolate, have lunch or cake, browse the independent shops, admire the windows and see what the local traders have created. Fancy dress is very much encouraged — grown-ups included.

For families looking for Halloween events for kids in Southbourne, it’s a relaxed way to enjoy the day without booking an expensive attraction. The main event is free, and there is plenty to discover simply by wandering the Grove.

Southbourne Pumpkin Fest 2026 — at a glance

When: Saturday 31 October 2026
Time: 10am–4pm
Where: Southbourne Grove and surrounding streets, Southbourne, Bournemouth
Start: Southbourne Green — collect your Pumpkin Trail token here
Entry: Free
Fancy dress: Very much encouraged

So if you’re searching for Halloween in Southbourne 2026, Halloween events for kids in Southbourne or free Halloween events in Southbourne, put Saturday 31 October in the diary.

Grab the costumes, gather your little monsters and come and see Southbourne get its spooky on.