Express & Star

Your guide to what's on this Halloween weekend in the West Midlands and Staffordshire

Although October half term is drawing to a close, there are still plenty of unique and vibrant events taking place in the West Midlands to keep all the family entertained.

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Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. Here is Bear Bonanza by Adam Rice.

For Halloween-lovers, there are pumpkins to pick and spooky night-time activities to partake in, while theatre-fanatics can enjoy some puppy love with The Osmonds or the classic ballet Coppélia.

It's also the final chance to see stunning lunar artwork - The Museum of the Moon - in the Nave of Lichfield Cathedral.

The replica of the moon, which is seven metres in diameter and based on detailed NASA imagery, is internally lit in the evening so it shines like the moon.

Animal and nature lovers should visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, showcasing some of the most awe-inspiring sights of nature.

And comedian Jim Davidson is returning to the Black Country on Friday with a performance at Dudley Town Hall, one of his 'favourite venues in the country'.

Events running over several days are listed under the first date.

Friday October 28

  • Dudley Town Hall: Jim Davidson 'Not Yet Cancelled 2022 Tour'. Show starts at 7.30pm. All tickets are £25.

Jim Davidson is performing at Dudley Town Hall
  • Birmingham Hippodrome: Coppélia. Until Saturday October 29, with shows at 7.30pm and a 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Love conquers all in Peter Wright’s world-class production of a joyous classic from the golden age of ballet, brought back to the stage by Birmingham Royal Ballet for the first time in five years. Léo Delibes’ glorious score is performed live by the 60-piece Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Tickets start at £20.

  • Alexandra Theatre: The Osmonds. Until Saturday October 29, with shows at 7.30pm and a 2.30pm Saturday matinee.. You Loved Them For A Reason. Now, for the first time, you can see this sensational new musical and relive one of the world’s biggest ever boybands. The Osmonds: A new musical tells the official story from Jay Osmond about the five brothers from Utah who were pushed into the spotlight as children and went on to create smash hits decade after decade. Tickets start at £13.

  • Prince of Wales Theatre, Cannock: RAF and Ready. Friday 28 - Saturday 29 October at 7.30pm. Tower Players presents a brand new, original play based around R.A.F. Hednesford during the 1940s and 1950s. The play follows two local brothers and their time spent at the camp, the elder during Second World War training as ground crew, and the younger as part of National Service in the early 1950s. Both find their lives changed forever by their experiences. In echoes of current events, the camps are later used to house refugees during the second half of the 1950s. As Hungarians fleeing the failed uprising against Russia begin to arrive, they bring with them new challenges to long held beliefs and prejudices. Tickets are £12.

  • Forge Mill Farm: Pumpkin picking and farm visit. Friday October 28, 10am - 4pm. Get your wellies on and head down to Forge Mill Farm in West Bromwich to pick your own perfect pumpkin. Visit your favourite animals at the farm, and after working up an appetite, don't forget to try homemade pumpkin pizza. As a half-term treat, choose one free craft activity before you leave - make your own scarecrow or make your own bird feeder. Ticket prices: adult - £3.50, child - £4.50, over 60s - £3, under twos and carers go for free. There are also family tickets - one adult and up to three children can go for £14.50, and two adults and up to three children can go for £18.

Forge Mill Farm offers families the chance to pick their own pumpkins this Halloween
  • Merry Hill: Gandeys Circus. Running until Sunday October 30. A very special (trick or) treat for Halloween, Gandeys Circus returns once again with a brand-new action-packed Halloween Spooktacular Big Top show for all the family. A specially selected international cast of skeletons, vampires, Jack o’lanterns and Circus Artistes have been brought together for this year’s sensational extravaganza. Ticket prices vary.

  • Lichfield Cathedral: Museum of the Moon. Running until Monday October 31. Evening events: 7pm - 9pm. Marvel at this stunning artwork of the moon, suspended in the Nave of Lichfield Cathedral.Measuring seven metres in diameter, the moon features detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. For a truly special experience, book tickets for the evening events where the artwork will come into its own: internally lit to shine like the moon accompanied by a surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones. Ticket prices: adults - £5, under 16s - £3. Under threes go for free.

  • National SEA LIFE Centre, Birmingham: Ascarium. Running until Monday October 31. Follow an immersive trail to help the witches and warlocks find their missing potion ingredients and discover some of the spookiest creatures of the sea. Make your way to the Witch’s lair where they will cast their spell to open the treasure chest revealing a special reward! Ticket prices start at £22.95. You can also buy a VIP pass for an after-hours sharks event.

  • Wolverhampton Art Gallery: Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. Until Saturday December 24, 10.30am - 4.30pm. Stare with awe at stunning photos of the natural world. The world-renowned exhibition, on loan from the Natural History Museum in London, features exceptional images which capture fascinating animal behaviour, spectacular species and the breath-taking diversity of the natural world. Ticket prices: adults - £5.50 plus booking fee, children - £3.50 plus booking fee, children under three go free. A family ticket for up to five people (must include one child) is £14.50 plus booking fee.

Exhibition Assistant Bethany Williams at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. Ndakasi's Passing by Brent Stirton.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. Liquid Silver by Ellen Cuylaerts.
  • Sandwell Valley Visitor Centre: Sandwell School of Sorcery. Until Sunday October 30, 10am - 5pm. Harry Potter fans can get a taste of magic in Sandwell Valley with their own school of sorcery. Find out which house you will be sorted into and join your classmates for spellbinding magical classes. From unicorn heart string to centaur tail, which wand will you choose? Learn all about the magical properties of everyday plants in herbology class and discover how you can grow your own. Finally, head to potions class, where you’ll use everything from rats’ nails to troll snot to brew your very own bubbling potion. Ticket prices: adults - £5, children - £6, concessions - £4. Under twos go free.

  • Black Country Living Museum: Hauntings & Happenings. Until Sunday October 30, 10am - 5pm. The Dudley museum is putting on a host of Halloween-inspired activities for October half term, where guests can discover local folklore, traditions, and trickery. Entry to the museum costs: adults - £19.95, young people aged three to 15 - £9.95, over 65s - £17.95, students and unemployed - £16.95. Essential carers, children under two, and BCLM passholders/members get free entry.

  • West Midland Safari Park: Spooky Spectacular. Until Sunday October 30, 9.30am - 7pm. The safari park will be brimming with Halloween decorations and hundreds of pumpkins in their pumpkin patch. There will also be a 20-minute spooky magic show and a VR ride, which costs £4 per person. Safari park entry is £25 for adults and children, £22 for people aged 65 and over, and free for under threes and carers.

  • Black Country Living Museum: Halloween Nights. Until Saturday October 29, 6.30pm start. Follow the trick or treat stations around the 26-acre site, discovering spooky spectacles along the way. Dance the night away at the Monster Bash, follow the story trail and meet some of the museum's creepy creatures, all before strutting your stuff in the costume parade. Under 16-year-olds must be accompanied by an adult. Ticket prices: adults - £20, young people aged three to 15 - £14, carers - £10.

  • Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton: Your Heart Is Too Loud. Show starts at 7.30pm. A new dance work about love, loss, memory and resolution. Tickets cost £10.

  • Stourbridge Town Hall, Wollaston Studio: Trick or Treat. Screening starts at 7.30pm. A rare screening of the cult 1986 teen horror/comedy that perfectly exploits the '80s fear of metal acts burying subliminal Satanic messages in their music. It even has a cameo from Ozzy Osbourne. Tickets cost £7.50.

  • Stourbridge Town Hall, Wollaston Studio: Laurel and Hardy are spooked! Starts at 2.30pm. After two sell-out screenings in 2019, Birmingham Comedy Festival return to Stourbridge Town Hall for three classic black and white comedies with a spooky theme, all featuring the greatest double-act of all time, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Being screened are Habeas Corpus (1928), The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case (1930), and The Live Ghost (1934). Tickets are £5.50 for children and £8.50 for adults, plus a booking fee.

  • Birmingham Rep: Tartuffe. Running until Saturday November 5. Shows start at 7.30pm with 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Written by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning writers, Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto (The Office, Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at No.42, Citizen Khan) this reimagined comedy is not to be missed. Tartuffe has the gift of the gab. A spirituality. A certain aura about him, that comes only when you claim to have Allah on your side, hundreds of Twitter followers and access to the family’s bank account. Tickets start at £14.50.

  • Birmingham Rep, The Studio: Brown Girls Do it Too, Mama Told Me Not to Come. Friday 28 - Saturday 29 October. Shows at 7.45pm with a 2.45pm matinee on Saturday. Poppy Jay and Rubina Pabani bring their characteristic candour, quick wit and infectious personalities to the stage, reflecting on what is means to be brown British women. Tickets start at £17.50.

Saturday October 29

  • Stafford Gatehouse Theatre: Jurassic Live 2022. Performances are at 1pm and 5pm. Join Jurassic Live for a roarsome new experience millions of years in the making and the closest you will ever come to real dinosaurs! Jurassic Live is a thrilling new fun, educational and interactive stage show, taking you on an adventure throughout the Jurassic zoo on the hunt for a missing dinosaur. Along the way you’ll meet and learn about dinosaurs from the Cretaceous and Jurassic eras including the Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, Velociraptor, Triceratops and even the mighty T-Rex! Tickets start at £16.

  • Stourbridge Town Hall: Ballet Cymru presents Dream. Show starts at 7.30pm. Dream is an innovative new ballet based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Working with award-winning instrumentalist and composer Frank Moon, Ballet Cymru has created a magical, gender-bending world of fairies, lovers, and bewitching enchantment. Tickets are £10 for children, £16 for adults, £46 for a family of four (two adults and two children).

Sunday October 30

  • Stone Cross, Walsall Road: Scare Maze. Open on Sunday October 30 and Monday October 31 from 5pm. West Bromwich couple Terry and Kelly Longmore have turned their house into a ‘scare maze’ to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support this Halloween. Terry is also selling raffle tickets, with the draw taking place live on Facebook at 6pm on November 1. The Scare Maze is located at Walsall Road, Stone Cross, B71 3JA. To donate, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/B71scaremaze.

  • The Alexandra, Birmingham: Justin Live - The BIG Tour. Shows start at 11am and 2.30pm. Famous for his BAFTA Award Winning appearances in hit programmes including Something Special, Justin’s House, Gigglebiz and Gigglequiz, Justin Fletcher MBE is bringing his very own spectacular show to Birmingham. Tickets start at £20.90.

  • Birmingham Town Hall: Milkshake! Live - Milkshake Monkey's Musical. Shows start at 12pm and 3.30pm. Learn the amazing songs and dances with your favourite Milkshake! friends and watch as the music, the lights, the costumes and the stage brings Milkshake! to life. Tickets start at £19.50 for adults, £15 for under 16s, and £5 for children aged 12 months to two years. Disabled visitor's carers can go for free.

  • Birmingham Hippodrome: Joanne McNally: The Prosecco Express. Show starts at 8pm. Described as 'a truly gifted stand up' by The Sunday Times, join Joanne as she revisits her irreverent and critically acclaimed show The Prosecco Express. Due to a relentless ageing process, Joanne is suddenly in her late thirties with no husband, no kids, no pension and no plan. She is full of questions: if she doesn’t birth anything, who will be obligated to watch her die so she doesn’t have to do it alone? Tickets are £24.

  • Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton: Story Bazaar. Starts at 7.30pm. Unnerving tales of demons, spirits, and unspeakable taboos from the compelling Jewish and Indian traditions. Travel the depths of the underworld or encounter bizarre holy men in the forest in a disturbing and abundant feast of storytelling from two of Europe's most accomplished and exciting storytellers especially for Halloween. Tickets are £8.