Halloween now brings in more than Christmas at some UK attractions, their operators told the BBC. Avon Valley Adventure Park near Bath takes in about £2 million in October, a third of its year, and 36% of UK shoppers plan to celebrate Halloween this year, up from 27% in 2025, according to the grocery research group IGD.
Avon Valley Adventure Park: “It Has Surpassed Christmas”
Avon Valley Adventure Park sits on a 90-acre farm in Keynsham, between Bristol and Bath, and runs family events through the year, including a Pumpkin Patch and a Christmas Experience. Founder Doug Douglas told the BBC that Halloween events now make about a third of the park’s yearly income. “Halloween is really important for us, it has surpassed Christmas,” he said.
The park’s pumpkin event draws about 120,000 people a year, according to Douglas.
FEAR Scream Park, 12 Nights in October
FEAR Scream Park is Avon Valley’s after-dark Halloween event for visitors 16 and over, now in its 12th year. It has two themed areas with roaming performers, scare mazes with live actors, thrill rides, fire and laser shows, live dance, street food and bars. It runs 12 selected nights from October 9 to Halloween, and standard tickets are £26.99 to £42.99.
New this year is The Autopsy, a theatrical horror experience booked on top of standard entry. FEAR drew more than 24,000 people in 2025, and Douglas told the BBC he expects about 30,000 this month, with about 120 actors among some 200 staff. After this weekend, FEAR opens October 23 to 25 and October 28 to 31.
Costume Shops, Farms and a Zombie Prison
Chaplins, a costume shop in Bristol’s city centre for 35 years, makes half its turnover in October and a third in Halloween week alone, owner David Gaze told the BBC. Last October was its busiest, with customers spending an average of £40 each on costumes and accessories.
The National Farm Attractions Network, which has about 200 member farms, says almost all of them run Halloween events, from maize mazes and after-dark trails to scare attractions and pumpkin festivals. “Halloween gives farms a short, high-footfall season,” managing agent Heather Parry told the BBC.
At the former HMP Gloucester, Gloucester Prison Events runs Salvation-Z, a post-apocalyptic zombie experience where visitors try to escape past the old prison cells. Salvation-Z employs about 30 actors from the local area, according to actor manager Clive Barzillia.
How Many Britons Celebrate, Compared With the US
In a March survey by IGD, 36% of UK shoppers planned to celebrate Halloween this year, up from 27% in 2025. In the US, 74% plan to celebrate, on par with 73% last year, and Americans plan to spend $13.5 billion, according to the National Retail Federation’s survey in my Halloween spending story.
More UK Halloween on HAN
- Thorpe Park Fright Nights: the Surrey theme park’s Halloween event turns 25 this year, running selected nights from October 2 to November 1, with Tenement, a new pitch-black maze, in my Tenement story.
- Tulleys Farm: the West Sussex farm runs what it bills as Europe’s largest pumpkin festival through October 31, on the same site as its Shocktober Fest scream park, in my Tulleys Farm story.
