Bromsgrove Halloween Light Trail: 31 October, 5pm, Free

Bromsgrove District Council has confirmed the date for its Halloween Light Trail at Sanders Park. It runs on Saturday 31 October 2026, from 5pm to 10pm, and it is free.

That makes it the only major autumn event in the district with a published date. The town’s bonfire night display and the Christmas lights switch-on still have none.

The council says the park will be “transformed after dark” with illuminated paths and new themed zones for 2026. It has not yet said what those zones are.

What the council has confirmed

• Date: Saturday 31 October 2026
• Time: 5pm to 10pm
• Where: Sanders Park, Bromsgrove
• Cost: free
• Run by: Bromsgrove District Council

What it has not confirmed

The council’s own event page, posted on 8 September, carries one line under the times: “More information coming soon. Please check back for FAQs and details of what’s on.”

Five weeks later that is still all it says. So there is nothing published yet on:

• what is actually on the trail, or where it starts
• whether you need to book, or just turn up
• whether there is a one-way route around the park
• what happens if it rains
• parking and road arrangements on the night

The council says details will follow on its website and social media.

Cllr Shirley Webb, the council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said the trail “is one of the highlights of our events programme and always brings a fantastic atmosphere to Sanders Park”. The council describes it as an annual event attracting thousands of visitors each year.

Parking will be different this year, in both directions

Two things have changed at opposite ends of the journey, and neither is mentioned in the council’s announcement.

The park’s own car park should be bigger. The council began extending the Sanders Park overflow car park on Monday 17 August. Its dedicated page for the works says the job will take six to eight weeks and “will be completed around early October 2026”, which is before Halloween. It is expected to add 23 standard bays and 6 disabled bays to the current provision, though the council’s news post notes that “final numbers remain subject to change during construction”.

The contractor is Macdonald Surfacing, working 8am to 5pm on weekdays only. The council gave 01527 881288 for questions about the scheme.

A town centre car park will have gone, and the council’s own advice has not caught up. While the works are on, the council’s Sanders Park page tells drivers to use six named car parks nearby, with drive and walk times for each. One of them is Stourbridge Road, listed at four minutes’ drive and 17 minutes’ walk.

Stourbridge Road stops being a car park on 25 September, five days from now, under the council’s new Off-Street Parking Places Order, because the land is being sold for redevelopment. It was still on the Sanders Park list when we checked on 20 September. We have covered the closure in full: Stourbridge Road car park closes on 25 September.

The other five the council names are St Johns Street, Recreation Road South, Parkside, Windsor Street and School Drive. Every public council car park gives the first 30 minutes free if you take a ticket. Full tariffs are on our parking in Bromsgrove page.

The council also asks drivers not to park on the grass, and says it does not have the staff to open the grass overflow as it does for the carnival and Sunday band concerts.

The park itself

Sanders Park was awarded Green Flag status in the 2026 round, alongside Lickey End Recreation Ground. The scheme is run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under contract from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and is meant to mark well managed parks and green spaces.

The council manages more than 20 parks and play areas across the district.

Sanders Park is also one of the two sites in the council’s current skatepark consultation, with St Chad’s Park in Rubery. We covered that separately: the skatepark refurbishment consultation.

What it means for you

• Put Saturday 31 October, 5pm to 10pm in the diary now. It is free and you do not currently need a ticket, but the council has not ruled out booking.
• Check the council’s event page again in October. The FAQs and the list of what is on are still to be published.
• If you drive, expect the park’s own car park to be bigger than it was in the summer. Ignore Stourbridge Road on the council’s list of nearby car parks: it shuts on 25 September.
• If you are looking for the district’s bonfire night or Christmas events, no organiser has published a date yet. We are tracking both: Bromsgrove fireworks and the Christmas lights switch-on.

Related

• Things to do in Bromsgrove: Sanders Park and the rest of the district’s days out.
• Parking in Bromsgrove: every council car park, what it costs and the 30 minutes free rule.
• Bromsgrove roadworks and travel: what is shut this week and what is coming.

Sources

• Bromsgrove District Council, Sanders Set for Spooky Saturday, 16 September 2026, for the date, the 5pm to 10pm times, the free entry, the new themed zones, the “transformed after dark” description, the thousands of visitors claim and the quote from Cllr Shirley Webb.
• Bromsgrove District Council, Halloween Light Trail Sanders Park event page, posted 8 September 2026 and read again on 20 September, for “More information coming soon. Please check back for FAQs and details of what’s on.”
• Bromsgrove District Council, work to begin on Sanders Park car park extension, 29 July 2026, for the 17 August start, the 23 standard and 6 disabled bays, the “final numbers remain subject to change” wording, the contractor, the 8am to 5pm weekday working and the 01527 881288 contact.
• Bromsgrove District Council, Sanders Park Car Park Works, read on 20 September 2026, for “will be completed around early October 2026”, the six named alternative car parks with their drive and walk times including Stourbridge Road, the request not to park on the grass and the staffing answer on the grass overflow.
• Bromsgrove District Council, Off Street Parking Order 2026 consultation for the removal of Stourbridge Road car park on 25 September 2026 and the reason given.
• Bromsgrove District Council, our car parks for the first 30 minutes free rule and the 71 spaces at Stourbridge Road. Sanders Park is not listed on that page, so no space count is given for it here.
• Bromsgrove District Council, Green For Success At Bromsgrove Parks, 16 July 2026, for the 2026 Green Flag awards to Sanders Park and Lickey End Recreation Ground, the Keep Britain Tidy contract and the 20 parks figure.

Details confirmed with Bromsgrove District Council’s own published pages on 20 September 2026. The council says more information will follow; check its event page before you travel.