Halloweden turns 25 at the Eden Project this October half-term

The ice rink is the giveaway. Every year it tells you what kind of magic to expect at the Eden Project, and this year it has swapped its old look for a shimmering, starlit northern forest. Halloweden is turning 25, and from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, Cornwall’s biggest Halloween season is leaning further into the natural world than ever, running from the colours drifting across the ice down to the tiniest glowing spores underfoot.

A trail of glowing mushrooms winds through the gardens

Inspired by the way light travels through the vastness of space, this year’s Magical Miniature Mushroom trail sends visitors looping through the Eden Project’s gardens to gather the secrets of the fungi hiding among the plants. It is billed as a proper step into the hidden world of mushrooms, with a little of that seasonal magic to take home at the end.

Painting with light inside the Hidden Glow Room

The fungi theme continues indoors, where the Hidden Glow Room turns little explorers loose in an immersive UV world. Using what the Eden Project calls enchanted ingredients, children can paint their own mystical designs under the lights, watching glowing nature come to life on the page in front of them. It is pitched as a gentler, more curious side of Halloween, more enchanting than frightening.

Storytelling and live music drift through the Mediterranean Biome

Inside the Mediterranean Biome, storytelling built around ancient nature magic will drift across the citrus grove, promising a journey with more magic in it than menace. Live music plays alongside the storytelling, casting its own kind of spell through the biome with sounds the Eden Project describes as being as spooky as they are spellbinding.

The Spellbinders take over the Citrus Grove on Saturday 31 October

On Saturday 31 October, from midday until 4pm, Eden’s in-house Halloween band The Spellbinders will fill the Citrus Grove with groovy tunes, games and treats, aimed squarely at anyone who turns up in costume.

A reimagined ice rink, starlit and otherworldly

No visit to the gardens is complete without a spin on Eden’s ice rink, and this year the whole thing has been rebuilt around a new look. As well as transporting skaters to the colours of the Northern Lights, the rink has been reimagined with a shimmering, starlit Northern Hemisphere forest running around its edge.

Costumes welcome throughout half-term

Halloweden runs across the whole of the October half-term, from 24 October to 1 November, with fancy dress encouraged at every turn, not just on the Saturday of the Spellbinders’ set.

Kate Francis, Eden Project Live Producer, said Halloweden is all about rediscovering the everyday magic of nature. “Our gardens transform into something truly enchanted this time of year, and we want our visitors to feel part of that magic,” she said. “It’s whimsical, it’s earthy, and it’s a little bit spellbinding.”

Halloweden runs from 24 October to 1 November at the Eden Project in Cornwall. Tickets and further details are available at www.edenproject.com.