Visit Beamish, The Living Museum of the North this October as the museum focuses on folklore
27th October 2025
From ghostly goings-on to 1950s UFO sightings, discover the region’s folklore at Beamish Museum during its October Half Term event, from Saturday, 25 October to Sunday, 2 November 2025.
Visitors to the County Durham open air museum will be able to enjoy a programme of activities delving into the quirky, and often mysterious, world of North East folklore.
The event begins with a weekend of storytelling, with spooky railway tales at Rowley Station and The 1820s Waggonway on Saturday 25 October, and Georgian folklore tales at the Drovers Tavern on the Sunday.
On Monday 27, enjoy traditional folk music in The 1900s Pit Village band hall and the Georgian Drovers Tavern.
On Tuesday 28, try your hand at making your own magic as you learn about Professor Pepper’s Ghosts in The 1900s Town’s Masonic Hall and see if you can create your own apparition. Settle down to traditional folklore stories in Birch Wood and have a go at making your very own Lambton Worm on Wednesday, 29th.
Binoculars at the ready! Join the Beamish UFO Society and report any unusual sightings at our 1950s Police Houses on Thursday, 30th.
Tidings turn spooky from Halloween (31st October) until Sunday, 2nd November, as the museum invites visitors to come along and discover how Halloween was traditionally observed from the 1820s to the 1950s.
Plus visitors can explore the rest of the museum, stepping back in time and experiencing the unforgettable sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the North East in the 1820s, early 1900s, 1940s and 1950s.
Take a walk around the beautiful Georgian house and gardens, do a spot of Edwardian shopping, taste delicious traditional fish and chips, explore The 1940s Farm and take a trip to the 1950s cinema – there’s something for everyone to enjoy at Beamish Museum.
October Half Term at Beamish Museum is included in admission and is free for Beamish Unlimited Pass holders and Friends of Beamish members. For more information visit www.beamish.org.uk. The event comes as Beamish is celebrating being named Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025, the world’s largest museum prize. The museum is also celebrating its 55th anniversary in 2025 and, in the past year, has completed its Remaking Beamish project, the biggest development in its 55-year history, which included the recreation of a 1950s Town, developed with community input from people with firsthand knowledge of the original spaces.