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Thursday, 29 October 2026

Your Halloween weekend in Watford: frights, lights, Diwali

Your Halloween weekend in Watford: frights, lights, Diwali

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Issue 7 - 2026-10-29

Your Halloween weekend in Watford: frights, lights, Diwali

October 29, 2026

Watford weekend weather, Thu 29 Oct to Sun 1 Nov, Met Office

Hi. Welcome back to The Watford Brew. Issue 7, and it's our Halloween special.

It's the last few days of half term, Halloween falls on Saturday, and Watford's Diwali celebrations light up the town centre on Sunday. So this week there's a free haunted house on Pondside, Ghostbusters on the big screen at the Palace, pumpkins to pick, and an early fireworks night in Bushey to round it all off. Costumes at the ready.

A quick hello too, to Watford's Elected Mayor, Peter Taylor, who now follows the Brew on Instagram. Lovely to have you with us.

If you want a head start tonight, An Evening with Tottenham Legends is at Watford Palace Theatre (Thu 29 Oct, 7.30pm, from £38, 14+). Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle, Ossie Ardiles and Steve Perryman talk White Hart Lane, with a Q&A after the interval.

HALLOWEEN PICKS

FRIDAY

Halloween Market Lates, Watford Market
Fri 30 Oct · 6pm to 10pm · Watford Market · free entry

The market goes spooky for the night, with free face painting from 6pm to 8pm, a roaming magician and plenty of photo spots. Singer-songwriter Abbie Gathard plays from 6pm to 7.30pm, then Scratch take over with 90s v 00s covers. Fancy dress encouraged. The food and drink is in Eat & Drink below.

Watford Film Club: Ghostbusters, Watford Palace Theatre
Fri 30 Oct · 8pm · from £7.50 · 12A · 1 hour 45 minutes

Who you gonna call? The supernatural comedy classic is back on the big screen for Halloween: proton packs, quotable lines and one gigantic marshmallow man. A bargain night out.

Halloween Story Boats, Batchworth Lock
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Oct · boats hourly from 10am, last boat 3pm · Rickmansworth · children £12, adults £9 · book ahead

Rickmansworth Waterways Trust volunteers read stories (not too scary) on the canal, then there are games and crafts in the Education Centre afterwards. Refreshments on board are included.

Also Friday: Trick or Treat Trail · Fri 30 Oct, the last day · 10am to 4pm · High Street and The Parade · free. Hunt down 10 inflatable ghosts in 10 shop windows, step inside and say "Trick or Treat!" for a sweet treat. Send a team selfie with a ghost for a draw to win a £100 Watford Gift Card.

Also Friday: Spellbook Workshop at Harlequin · Fri 30 Oct · 11am to 4pm · Charter Place · free, no booking, queues expected. Little witches and wizards make their own spell book to take home.

Also Friday: Spooky Trail on Chorleywood Common · Fri 30 Oct · hourly starts from 10am, last start 2pm · starts near Cafe on the Common · tickets via Chorleywood Parish Council. Follow the skeletons and solve the clues among the trees. About 30 to 45 minutes, buggy friendly but can be muddy.

Friday and Saturday: Pumpkin Nights: The Glow, Carpenders Park · Fri 30 and Sat 31 Oct · evening sessions until 8pm, last entry 7.30pm · adults £5, children £3, under 2s free · book online. The closest pumpkin patch to town, after dark with lights and music, and a free carving kit with every adult ticket. Pumpkins aren't included in the ticket price.

SATURDAY

Trick or Treat Show and Haunted House, Pondside
Sat 31 Oct · haunted house 3pm to 7pm · show 5pm to 6pm · Pondside, The Parade · free

The big one. Watford Town Centre's free street show brings Halloween dances, a contortionist, scary characters and a fire-breathing finale. New this year, there's a free haunted house on Pondside to creep through before or after. Come in costume.

Buffy Revamped, Watford Palace Theatre
Sat 31 Oct · 7.30pm · from £28 · 14+ · 75 minutes, no interval

All 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in seventy minutes, told by the one person who knows them inside out: Spike. Five-star reviews and a lot of 90s references.

Also Saturday: Family Fun Day, Bushey Grove Leisure Centre · Sat 31 Oct · 10am to 1pm · Aldenham Road, Bushey · free Halloween crafts, a fancy dress competition with prizes, face painting and free taster fitness classes, in support of the Red Trust Bushey charity. Some activities need booking.

Also Saturday: Trickster: Live Show, Halloween Special · Sat 31 Oct · 7.30pm · The Henderson Hub, High Street, Abbots Langley · tickets online. Magic inspired by the world of Stranger Things, with suspense, comedy and special effects.

Also Saturday: Bingo Lingo XL: House of Horrors · Sat 31 Oct · doors 6pm, last entry 7.30pm, ends 11pm · Watford Colosseum. The party bingo night goes full horror, and the best costume wins a prize.

Last day, Sat 31 Oct: Spook-Fest at Aldenham Country Park, Elstree (farm, Spooky Shack, pumpkin hunt and scarecrow shows, with pumpkin picking as an add-on) and the Pumpkin Festival at Willows Activity Farm, London Colney (one free pumpkin per paid child, plus a Halloween maze and disco). Book both online.

SUNDAY

Diwali Celebrations, Watford Town Centre
Sun 1 Nov · free daytime events from 11am · Charter Place, High Street and Pondside

11am to 4pm: Diwali crafts, including diya making, Charter Place
4pm to 5pm: cultural performances, Charter Place
5pm: Festival of Light Parade, Charter Place to Pondside
5.30pm to 6.30pm: rangoli lighting, Pondside

All communities are welcome. In the evening at Watford Palace Theatre, children from Pandav Vidhya Shaala give a Diwali curtain raiser at 7pm, then at 8pm Antarang's When Strings Speak brings together Hindustani and Western violin, Flamenco, Kathak and Odissi. The evening show is ticketed, so book through the Palace.

Watford Legends Fireworks Night, Metropolitan Bushey
Sun 1 Nov · gates 3pm · fireworks 6pm · ends 8pm · Bushey · advance tickets £8.50 single or £30 for a group of four, £10 on the day, under 2s free

An early display with a very Watford soundtrack: the pyro-musical show is set to the music of Elton John and George Michael. There's a funfair, food stalls and bars, a kids' magic show with Magic Kurtis at 4.30pm, and Spice Girls Forever live (Geri Halliwell is a Watford girl, after all). There's no parking on site, including blue badge parking, so walk or use public transport.

Also Sunday: Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, Watersmeet · Sun 1 Nov · 11am and 3pm · Rickmansworth · adults £4.50, children £3.50 · U, 81 minutes. Shaun tries being a mad scientist for Halloween, and it goes about as well as you'd expect.

Also Sunday: last chance for the free daytime pumpkin patch at Carpenders Park Garden Centre, Little Oxhey Lane · Sun 1 Nov · 10am to 4pm. Snap a patch photo for the Picture Challenge and you could win a £100 voucher.

WHAT'S NEW

Totally Spooking Out trail, Rickmansworth Aquadrome · daily until Sun 15 Nov · free. Three Rivers District Council's new augmented reality trail: find 10 Halloween masks on the trees, scan each QR code, then try the mask on for a spooky selfie. It takes about 45 minutes, there's a free digital fun pack at the end, and you'll need a smartphone.

Dark Arts, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London · until Sun 8 Nov · Leavesden · book in advance. The Great Hall under more than 100 floating pumpkins, with Death Eaters and Dementors about. It's included in the normal ticket price. The after-hours Nox nights (Thu 29 to Sat 31 Oct) are sold out.

EAT & DRINK

Halloween Market Lates · Fri 30 Oct · 6pm to 10pm · Watford Market. Caribbean, Asian and Korean street food from the market traders, with Halloween specials, a pop-up bar and a Mad Squirrel Land Rover beer truck.

Boo's and Brews: Halloween Musical Bingo, Mad Squirrel · Fri 30 Oct · 8pm to 10pm · 3 King Street. Bingo, but you're dabbing songs instead of numbers.

Halloween Costume Party with LP Cafe, Mad Squirrel · Sat 31 Oct · 6pm to 11pm · 3 King Street. Costumes, music from LP Cafe, party games, Halloween cocktails, and a Best Dressed Spookster prize voted for by the crowd.

Saints vs Sinners, BOOM Battle Bar Watford · Sat 31 Oct · from 8pm · £5, or free with a brunch or games booking. DJs, throwback anthems and Halloween cocktails. Pick a side and dress for it.

COMING UP

Diwali at Bhaktivedanta Manor · Sun 8 Nov · 10am to 7pm · free, but you need a ticket. Tickets are released on Sun 1 Nov at 12 noon. No ticket, no entry, and there are no fireworks on the day.

Fireworks: book ahead or save the date

The full fireworks guide is in next week's Brew.

Remembrance Sunday · Sun 8 Nov · 3pm · Peace Memorial, outside Watford Town Hall. The Royal British Legion musters veterans, service personnel and cadets on the Parade (by the pond) at 2.30pm. There are also services at All Saints Church, Horseshoe Lane (9am), St Matthew's Church, Eastbury Road (10am), and Oxhey Village Green (from 2.15pm). Look out for the "Tommies", silhouettes of First World War soldiers, around town.

Playwrights group, Watford Palace Theatre · weekly through January and February · 18+. The Palace is running a group for writers aged 18 and over who have some playwriting experience, meeting weekly across January and February. You apply through the link in Watford Palace Theatre’s Instagram bio.

DID YOU KNOW?

Watford Palace Theatre opened for the very first time on 14 December 1908, as a music hall. It stayed open right through the Blitz, and in 1956 Jimmy Perry, who went on to write Dad's Army, became joint Artistic Director with Gilda Perry. The Palace tells its own history here.

Local legend says the old place has a ghost or two as well (the Watford Observer has the stories), which makes Friday's Ghostbusters screening feel very fitting.

SEE YOU NEXT THURSDAY

Happy Halloween, and Happy Diwali on Sunday. See you next Thursday.
The Watford Brew

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