Time to make plans for the month – here are the 5 Stratford-upon-Avon events in October.
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Top 5 Stratford-upon-Avon events in October
Top 5 Stratford-upon-Avon events in October no. 1: Fun Palaces
An annual event since 2014, Fun Palaces is about bringing culture and community together during the first weekend of October.
This year’s free Fun Palace events in Stratford-upon-Avon include: arts and crafts at Stratford Play House (Sat; 10am-4pm); a Lego workshop at The Old Slaughterhouse off Sheep Street (Sat; 1.30pm-4.30pm), an all-day Fun Palace in Henley Street on Saturday; and an all-day open-mic session at the RSC’s Swan Theatre (Sun; 11am-4pm)
To find out more, visit Fun Palaces.
Top 5 Stratford-upon-Avon events in October no. 2: Stratford Mop Fair
The annual Mop Fair in Stratford-upon-Avon is on Thursday October 11 (4pm-11pm) and Friday October 12 (11am-11pm) in 2018.
Funfair rides take over the streets of the town centre on both days in a tradition that dates back centuries, when workers, employed from October to October, would bring an item to the fair denoting their trade; those without a trade or craft would carry a mop head. Workers would be hired at the fair and given money to spend on the rides.
The Runaway Mop is on Thursday October 25 and Friday October 26.
Top 5 Stratford-upon-Avon events in October no. 3: Theatrical delights
There are plenty of new events throughout October at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre welcomes Troilus and Cressida on Friday October 12 and a special production of The Comedy of Errors, aimed primarily at 7-13 year olds, begins on Friday October 19 at the Swan Theatre. Also on during October are Tartuffe, Tamburlaine and David Edgar’s Maydays.
It’s on over Halloween, and a bloody dose of Sweeney Todd at the Attic Theatre (Oct 11-Nov 4) is sure to send chills up the spine.
Also looking to tingle a few spines during October is A Midsummer Night’s Scream – The Revenge. It’s a decadent dose of cabaret and burlesque at Stratford Play House by Ice Crystal Productions and it runs for one night only, on Thu Oct 18.
Top 5 Stratford-upon-Avon events in October no. 4: Half-term fun
There’s plenty on at the RSC over the half-term school holiday too, alongside lots of family fun elsewhere in Stratford-upon-Avon late in October.
At the RSC there are activity trails, free entry to The Play’s The Thing, plus workshops and demonstrations.
Over at the Shakespeare Family Homes, there are all kinds of child-friendly activities and performances.
Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall has a family quiz and trail over the half-term break from school, which runs from Friday October 26 until Monday November 5.
Top 5 Stratford-upon-Avon events in October no. 5: Halloween
Halloween falls during the half-term school holiday (as does Bonfire Night), so many Stratford-upon-Avon attractions have combined ghostly goings-on with family-friendly adventure.
The Shakespeare Family Homes are offering pumpkin carving, spooky crafts, potion making, and presentations about the Gunpowder Plot.
The Waterside Fright Festival is on Tue Oct 30-Thu Nov 1, 10am-6pm each day. As well as market stalls, there will be fire breathers, crafts, a witches’ cavern, reptile handling and spooky storytelling.
Tudor World, perfectly positioned in Stratford-upon-Avon’s “spookiest street”, is running lantern-lit tours, family ghost tours, a fortune teller, and Halloween trails.
Magic Alley’s Halloween offering begins at the start of October, with a macabre makeover of the Enchanted Manor and – for grown-ups only – a show called The Belles of Hell Court.
Stratford Town Walk’s popular Halloween Ghost Walk is on Wed Oct 31.
READ MORE: Reasons to visit Stratford-upon-Avon in autumn
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Information correct at date of publication