West Sussex half term runs 26 to 30 October 2026. Roman Army Week at Fishbourne, Plagues and Potions at Weald and Downland, and seven more things booked.

October half term for West Sussex schools is Monday 26 to Friday 30 October 2026. Here is what Chichester’s museums, galleries and venues have actually listed for that week, each taken from the organiser’s own page on 25 September. Several need booking.

The quick answer

  • Dates: Monday 26 to Friday 30 October for West Sussex schools. The Prebendal School breaks earlier, from Friday 16 October to Monday 2 November.
  • Biggest programmes: Roman Army Week at Fishbourne Roman Palace (26 to 30 October) and Plagues and Potions at the Weald and Downland Living Museum (24 October to 1 November).
  • Cheapest: the Novium Museum is free to enter, and its puppet show on Wednesday 28 October is £6 a child.

Some academies set their own dates: see our Chichester school term dates page before you book.

Nine things on in half term week

1. Roman Army Week, Fishbourne Roman Palace

Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, 10am to 4pm, all ages. Children sign up as trainee Roman soldiers: drill in the palace gardens, sword and shield practice, spear throwing, writing their names in Roman letters, dressing up, Roman food and board games. There is also a Pumpkin Trail through the gardens. It is included in general admission, with activities an extra £1 per participant paid on arrival. Source: Sussex Past.

2. Plagues and Potions, Weald and Downland Living Museum

Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, 10am to 4pm. A trail through the historic buildings, set in 1665, runs every day of half term, and Hambrook Barn becomes “Haunted Hambrook” with games such as an eyeball and spoon race and broomstick racing. Extra sessions from the museum’s event page:

  • Spooky crafts and Make a Medieval Plague Potion: 27 to 29 October, 10am to 3.30pm
  • Ghost stories with The Bard Dawn: 27 and 29 October at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm
  • Spooky Victorian School: 28 October, 10.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 3.30pm

3. Halloween: All Hallow’s Eve, Weald and Downland

Saturday 31 October, 10am to 4pm. Costumes encouraged; mystics in the woodland making spell jars, a 16th-century “wise woman” in her cottage, and the Plagues and Potions trail. Book through the Halloween page.

4. The Tale of the Nightingale, The Novium Museum

Wednesday 28 October, sessions at 10.15am and 11.30am, 45 minutes. A puppet story about Florence Nightingale by Red Sauce Theatre for children aged 5 to 9. £6 a child, £2 an adult; all children must come with an adult. From the Novium’s what’s on listings.

5. ChichestHER, The Novium Museum

The museum’s new exhibition on women from the Chichester district opens on Saturday 17 October and runs to April 2027, with a free family day on the opening Saturday. The museum is free to enter, open Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4.30pm and Saturday 10am to 5pm, and closed on Sundays and Mondays, which rules out the Monday of half term.

Thursday 29 October: 11am for ages 4 to 7, and 2pm for ages 4 to 11. Storytelling and a draw-along with illustrator Bryony Thomson. £5 a child; parents and siblings under four go free. Under-18s get into the gallery free anyway. Source: the event page.

7. Tangmere Military Aviation Museum

Open every day from 10am to 5pm through October, with last entry an hour before closing, and daily until 29 November. Adults £15, children aged 5 to 16 £7, under-5s free, family ticket (two adults, two children) £37. Source: the museum’s tickets and visiting page.

8. Children’s Halloween Party, The Fishbourne Centre

Saturday 31 October, 3.30pm to 5.30pm, £2.50 to £7.50. Listed on the Fishbourne Centre’s own events page.

9. Free and cheap in the city centre

From the Chichester BID events calendar:

  • Board games for families, Chichester Library: Saturday 24 October, 9am to 4pm, drop in.
  • Rhyme Time, Chichester Library: Tuesday 27 October and Friday 30 October; the listing gives 2.15pm to 2.45pm on Tuesdays and 9.30am to 10am on Fridays. Numbers are limited.
  • Craft Club, Jam Cafe: Saturdays 24 and 31 October, 10.30am to noon and 1pm to 3pm, from £5.

Straight after half term

The district’s only confirmed bonfire and fireworks display this year is at Hampers Green, Petworth, on Saturday 7 November; details on our Bonfire Night page.

Still to be confirmed

We could not read the National Trust’s Petworth House half term page on 25 September; its site blocked our request. Chichester Festival Theatre had no half term family show listed for 26 to 30 October. We will re-check both, and Chichester Cathedral, in mid October.