Angel Central runs free trick or treat 4pm to 6pm on Saturday 31 October. Ghost boat trips through the Islington Tunnel from £11.25, puppets and comedy too.

Islington’s main Halloween event this year is a free trick or treat at Angel Central, from 4pm to 6pm on Saturday 31 October. The council does not run a borough Halloween event, so the rest of the week is made up of what the museums, theatres and venues put on, and the best of it sits in October half term, Monday 26 to Friday 30 October.

Everything below was checked on the organiser’s own website on 4 October 2026.

The quick answer

  • Halloween is Saturday 31 October 2026, the day after half term ends.
  • Free: Angel Central’s trick or treat, 4pm to 6pm on the 31st, N1 0PS.
  • Book early: the London Canal Museum’s ghost-story boat trips through the Islington Tunnel, 29 to 31 October, from £11.25 a child.
  • For adults: Ghost House, Halloween night stand-up at Union Chapel, 16+.

Angel Central trick or treat: free, Saturday 31 October

The shopping centre on Parkfield Street, off Upper Street, runs a centre-wide trick or treat on Saturday 31 October from 4pm to 6pm. Children dress up and go round the participating shops collecting treats. It is free and there is nothing to book (Angel Central).

Angel Central says the list of shops taking part is “coming soon”, so it has not been published yet. This page will add it when it is.

London Canal Museum: Halloween boat trips and a family day

The museum on New Wharf Road, N1, near King’s Cross, does two Halloween events.

Halloween tunnel boat trips, Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October. For the last three days of October the museum drops its normal timetable and takes its boat, Long Tom, through the Islington Tunnel with ghost stories in the dark. Trips leave at 11am, 12pm and 2pm and take about 50 minutes. The 3pm “Scream Tea” trip lasts about 80 minutes and serves a Halloween cream tea on board (London Canal Museum).

Ticket Tunnel trip Scream Tea
Adult (16 to 64) £17.50 £26.75
Concession (65+, students, unwaged) £15.50 £24.50
Child (0 to 15) £11.25 £19.50

Every ticket includes museum entry and every passenger needs one, however young. Arrive at least ten minutes before the boat leaves; latecomers may not be able to board. The museum says the commentary is aimed mainly at adults and older children.

Spooky Halloween family day, Tuesday 27 October. A craft session making underwater monsters, a 25-minute “ghostly” boat trip to St Pancras Lock and back, and a Halloween version of the museum’s Top Ten trail. Boats leave at 10.30am, 11.15am, 12pm, 1.15pm, 2pm, 2.45pm and 3.30pm. It costs £10.50 for adults and £5.50 for children aged 0 to 15, and boat seats are booked on the museum’s page (London Canal Museum).

One thing to check before you go: the museum’s family day page carries a Halloween section headed 28 October, but its key facts list gives 27 October as the only October date. Treat Tuesday 27 October as the confirmed day.

Little Angel Theatre: Halloween puppet workshop

On Saturday 31 October Little Angel runs a one-hour family workshop making light-up ghost and pumpkin lantern puppets from recycled materials, for children aged 5 to 9 with a parent or carer. Sessions are at 10.30am and 12.15pm at Little Angel Studios, Sebbon Street, N1 2EH. Tickets are £10 per adult and £10 per child, and every adult and child needs one. The 12.15pm session was showing low availability on 4 October (Little Angel Theatre).

Two ordinary Little Angel shows run through half term as well: Pip and Posy Live on Stage for ages 2 to 5 and The Pied Piper: A Rat’s Tale for 5 and up. Prices and the cheap Wednesday and Friday teatime shows are on our October half term page.

Union Chapel: Ghost House, Halloween night stand-up

For adults, Union Chapel on Compton Terrace, Highbury Corner, hosts Ghost House on Saturday 31 October: Fern Brady headlines, with Tom Rosenthal, Kiran Saggu and Horatio Gould, and John Tothill hosting. Doors 6.30pm, show 7.45pm, curfew 10.30pm. It is 16+, and under-18s must come with an adult. Ticket prices are in the venue’s booking system rather than on the event page (Union Chapel).

Free during half term

Freightliners City Farm on Sheringham Road, N7, is free to drop in to and opens every day except Tuesday. Its visit page says closing moves from 4.30pm to 3.30pm “from Sunday 26/10”, a note that reads as last year’s, so allow for the earlier close during half term (Freightliners City Farm). The full list of free and cheap things on that week is on our half term page.

Not confirmed for 2026

  • Angel Central’s participating shops for the trick or treat. “More information coming soon,” the centre says.
  • The Islington Ecology Centre’s “Creepy Crafternoon”. The North London Waste Authority ran one at the centre on Drayton Park on 31 October 2025, but its listing is still the 2025 event and no 2026 date has been published (NLWA). We have not listed it as on.

Getting there and parking

Angel Central’s own car park on Parkfield Street has 27 spaces, first come, first served, and the centre quotes £5 an hour for the first two hours, then £4 an hour, capped at £30 for 24 hours. Its event page gives a different figure, a £20 day fee, so check the machine. Most people will be better off on the Northern line to Angel or the many buses along Upper Street. Our Islington parking page covers on-street costs, and the roadworks and travel page lists current closures.

Fireworks go on sale in the borough from 15 October. What the council allows, and where the nearest displays are, is on our Islington fireworks page.

Sources