Halloween 2026 in the United Kingdom

Many people in the United Kingdom celebrate Halloween on October 31 with costume parties, trick-or-treating, and carved pumpkins. While not a public holiday, it has grown in popularity and is widely marked with spooky decorations and seasonal events.

Is Halloween a Public Holiday?

Even though Halloween falls on Saturday, October 31, 2026, it is a working day. Most businesses follow regular opening hours in United Kingdom.

When Is Halloween in the UK?

Halloween is celebrated each year on October 31 in the United Kingdom.

Although not a public holiday, Halloween is one of the most visible cultural events of the autumn season, especially for families with children.

On Halloween night, towns and neighbourhoods across the UK come alive with Halloween costumes, carved pumpkins, and groups of trick-or-treaters going door-to-door for sweets.

Best days to take off in the UK in 2026

How Is Halloween Celebrated in the UK?

Halloween is typically marked by a mix of traditional and modern activities:

• Halloween parties are common, where children and adults wear fancy dress or scary costumes, often inspired by witches, ghosts, ghouls, superheroes, or characters from horror films.
• Trick-or-treaters go door-to-door in costume asking for sweets on Halloween night.
• Pumpkin picking has become increasingly popular in recent years, with many farms across the UK offering seasonal pumpkin patches for families to visit.
• Carved pumpkins have replaced the older tradition of turnip lanterns and are a staple in Halloween decorations.
• Apple bobbing and other autumn-themed games are sometimes played at community or school events.
• Telling ghost stories or hosting spooky movie nights are also popular Halloween pastimes.

While not everyone participates, Halloween has become popular across the UK, especially among families with young children.

Celtic Origins

In Scotland and Ireland, Halloween grew from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter.

The Celts believed that at this time the boundary between the living and the dead was especially thin, allowing spirits to pass into the world of the living.

Children traditionally took part in guising, dressing up in costumes and performing songs, jokes, or small tricks in exchange for food or gifts. This practice is considered a direct ancestor of the modern tradition of trick-or-treating.

Over time, these ancient customs were adapted and merged with Christian observances, laying the foundation for many of the Halloween traditions still recognized today.

Christian Influences and Later Traditions

Halloween was also once known as All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day (November 1), followed by All Souls’ Day (November 2), both of which are important dates in the Christian calendar.

During this period, families would bake soul cakes, giving them to children or the poor in exchange for prayers for the dead—a practice that influenced today’s Halloween sweets tradition.

Historically, Halloween was sometimes called Nut-Crack Night or Apple and Candle Night. These outdated names referred to seasonal games and communal gatherings held to celebrate the autumn harvest. Such traditions, both ancient and more recent, have helped shape the rich tapestry of Halloween customs observed in the UK today.

Modern Halloween

Although Halloween originated in the British Isles with Celtic and Christian traditions such as Samhain and All Hallows’ Eve, much of today’s celebration—costumes, trick-or-treating, and commercial decorations—stems from the Americanized version. This has greatly influenced how the holiday is now observed in the UK.

Cultural and Economic Impact

Halloween has become an increasingly significant commercial event in the United Kingdom. Spending on costumes, decorations, sweets, and themed events rises each year, with supermarkets, retailers, and entertainment venues heavily promoting seasonal products.

While it does not yet rival the economic scale of Christmas, it is now considered one of the most important retail events of the autumn season, particularly for families with children.

Symbols of Halloween in the UK

• Carved pumpkins: Also known as Jack-o’-Lanterns, were originally made from turnips and are now the UK’s most recognisable symbol of Halloween.
• Witches, ghosts, black cats, and bats: Frequent motifs in costumes and home decorations.
• Orange, black, purple, and green: The traditional colours of the spooky season.

Did You Know?

In the UK today, Halloween is often seen as a prelude to Guy Fawkes Day (Bonfire Night) on November 5. While their origins differ, they are both linked by their timing, their autumnal atmosphere, and the shared tradition of fire and light as symbols of seasonal festivity.

About Halloween in Other Countries

While we diligently research and update our holiday dates, some of the information in the table above may be preliminary. If you find an error, please let us know.