More than 60 museums and galleries across Wales are opening their doors this October half term for the Welsh Museums Festival, and much of it is free. This year there’s a greener twist on Calan Gaeaf (Welsh Halloween), too.

Reed candles and a ghostly lantern parade in a shoemaker’s cottage. A 20ft copper dragon waiting at the end of a tunnel. Bat boxes in an old Rhondda colliery.

Welcome to the Welsh Museums Festival, running from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November.

Now in its 12th year, the festival is organised by the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales, with funding from the Welsh Government. Venues in towns, villages and cities across Wales are putting on events, many of them Halloween-themed.

Why your visit matters

Many of the venues taking part are small, independent and run by volunteers, like Porthcawl Museum in the old police station on John Street. They keep the stories you won’t find in any national collection: the photographs, tools, letters and everyday objects given by local families.

And they need visitors. According to the Welsh Government’s Museum Spotlight Survey:

• More than half of Wales’s accredited museums welcome fewer than 10,000 visitors a year
• Volunteers make up 86% of the workforce in independent museums
• Visits to independent museums are still only at 80% of pre-pandemic levels

Every trip through their doors helps keep local stories alive for the next generation.

A greener Calan Gaeaf

An estimated seven million Halloween costumes are thrown away across the UK every year, according to environmental charity Hubbub. Add glitter, plastic props and single-use decorations, and it soon mounts up.

So this year the festival is nudging everyone towards autumn leaves, seeds and natural materials. Venues have run with it: think reed candles, bat boxes, recycled creatures, willow lanterns and natural dyes.

“It is also a great way for families to participate in their local culture and heritage, for little to no cost.” Heledd Fychan, Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport

Four easy swaps for your own Halloween

• Make, don’t buy. Wrap old fabric into a mummy, or turn black clothes into a witch’s cat. Buying? Go pre-loved and pass it on after.
• Skip the glitter. It’s tiny bits of plastic. For sparkle, mix food colouring with sand, sea salt or sugar.
• Look to nature. Fallen leaves, twigs, seeds and dried flowers make brilliant decorations.
• Eat your pumpkin. Make soup from the flesh, and roast the seeds with melted butter, cinnamon, a pinch of salt and a little sugar.

Nine half-term picks

“Discovering your local museum or gallery is a really lovely way to spend time with your children over the October half term, especially if we get our traditional rainy half term!” Carly Davies, Federation of Museums and Galleries of Wales

Most venues are also giving away free festival goodies (activity booklets, pencils and stickers) while stocks last.

Mid and West Wales

TimeScape, Rhayader

Crawl through a tunnel into the Dragon’s Cave to meet Queen Belrenin, a 20ft copper dragon. The Rhayader Dragon Festival brings crafts, trails, storytelling, potion making and dragon racing, plus a Victorian storytelling evening for grown-ups.

24 and 27–31 October · Free during festival week

CofGâr Museums, Carmarthenshire

Folklore tours, spooky drama and a School of Witchcraft & Wizardry at Carmarthenshire Museum, Abergwili. At Parc Howard Museum, Llanelli, Adam yn yr Ardd follows a pumpkin from seed to plate (30 October).

29–31 October · Details and tickets on the CofGâr website

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea

Screen-print an old black T-shirt into a skeleton costume, build cardboard memory houses, or join a weekend book-making workshop for adults. All among works by Monet, Gwen John and Barbara Hepworth.

27–28 and 31 October · £3–£7.50 · Booking required

North Wales

Football Museum of Wales and Wrexham Museum, Wrexham

Wales’s newest museum, opened on 25 September in the city where the FAW was founded in 1876. Workshops, trails and crafts for young fans.

Half term, 10am–5pm · Free tickets, booking required

Sir Henry Jones Museum, Llangernyw, Conwy

Make reed candles and lanterns, then join a twilight ghostly parade, followed by a community soup-share. Don’t miss the ancient Llangernyw Yew next door.

24 and 28 October · Free · Booking required

Oriel Môn, Llangefni, Anglesey

Make a glowing willow lantern, invent creatures from recycled materials and help build Ysgol Arswyd, a spooky school. Dressing up encouraged.

27 and 29–30 October · Lanterns £5, other sessions free · Booking essential

South East Wales

Nantgarw China Works Museum, near Caerphilly

Make pinch-pot creatures and masks from real clay at the UK’s last 19th-century porcelain factory. Ages 11+ with an adult.

29 and 31 October · Clay sessions free, booking required

Newport Museum and Art Gallery

Drop-in Halloween crafts with artist Lucilla Jones for ages 3–10. Then hunt for the hidden fairy doors.

Wednesday 28 October · Free, no booking

Rhondda Heritage Park Museum, Trehafod

Build a bat box for the bats now living in old mines (27 October). Braver souls can take on the Halloween Spooktacular in the abandoned underground mine (28–30 October).

Bat boxes free, booking required · Spooktacular from £17.50 for one adult and one child

Plan your half term

• When: Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November
• Where: 50+ museums and galleries across Wales
• Cost: Many events are free; some need booking
• Tip: Dates and opening times vary, so check with each venue before you travel

See the full programme at museumsfestival.wales

More events are being added all the time. Follow #WalesHistoryTrails and #LlwybrauHanesCymru for updates.