Comic Arts Festival to Sunday 4 October and the Sedgwick pumpkin patch open, then Levens Hall ghost tours and Holker's Halloween at half term.

The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival runs to Sunday 4 October, and the Lakeland Maze pumpkin patch at Sedgwick opens this weekend. After that, most evenings are Brewery Arts nights, with gigs, comedy and screenings to bonfire week. Half term brings Halloween at Levens Hall and Holker, and Remembrance Sunday is 8 November, with the two-minute silence at 11am in Market Place.

Everything below comes from the organisers’ own pages, read on 28 September 2026 and rechecked on 3 October, and every entry links to its source. Brewery Arts prices are the standard ticket and include a commission of £2.50 to £3.50; there are cheaper tickets for some groups. For places that are open whatever the month, see things to do in Kendal.

This week

  • Lakes International Comic Arts Festival, to Sunday 4 October, venues across the town centre. More below.
  • Pumpkin patch at Lakeland Maze Farm Park, Sedgwick, LA8 0JH, open weekends from Saturday 3 October, 10am to 5pm. More below.
  • South Lakes Age Friendly Festival, Sunday 4 October, 11am to 2.30pm, Kendal Leisure Centre, Burton Road, LA9 7HX. Free, and one of three festivals the council is running for the International Day of Older Persons (Westmorland and Furness Council). Our festival report has what will be there.

Lakes International Comic Arts Festival, Friday 2 to Sunday 4 October

LICAF returns to Kendal for its 2026 festival with Bill Sienkiewicz as its featured guest. The festival lists 40 events over two days: live draws, films, presentations, guided tours and interviews, all included in a festival pass, while the opening night and the workshops are ticketed separately (LICAF events).

Passes are sold through TryBooking in Saturday and weekend versions. The Saturday pass is listed for “various locations across Kendal town centre”, with full details to follow, and covers the premium events, the exhibitions and priority access to signings (LICAF on TryBooking). Neither page carried a price when we read it, so check on the booking page before you buy.

Next week

  • Così fan tutte, The Met Opera, Tuesday 6 October, 6pm, Brewery Arts. £19 (Brewery Arts).
  • Vittorio Angelone, Wednesday 7 October, 7.30pm, Brewery Arts. £27.50, age guidance 14+. Sold out (Brewery Arts).
  • National Theatre Live: The Misanthrope, Thursday 8 October, 7.15pm (subtitled), and Saturday 10 October, 5.15pm, Brewery Arts, 122A Highgate, LA9 4HE. £18. Sandra Oh in the National Theatre’s production on screen (Brewery Arts).
  • The Long Ryders, Thursday 8 October, doors 7.30pm, Brewery Arts Malt Room, standing. £27.50. The alt-country band, with Reuben Tighe in support (Brewery Arts).
  • Cine-Macabre, Wednesday 7 October to Wednesday 11 November, Brewery Arts. A season of cult horror and ghost stories on screen, starting with The Omen’s 50th anniversary at 8.15pm on 7 October (Brewery Arts).
  • Kendal Farmers Market, Friday 9 October, 8am to 3.30pm, Market Place (Kendal Farmers Market).
  • Toploader, Friday 9 October, doors 7pm, Brewery Arts Malt Room, standing. £27.50, age guidance 14+ (Brewery Arts).
  • Holy Creatures, at Kendal Museum, Station Road, LA9 6BT, until Saturday 10 October. Fifteen women artists working on soil and the earth, in installation, film, sculpture, print and poetry (Kendal Museum). The museum is on temporary hours, Fridays and Saturdays only, 9am to 5pm, £5 adult, £2 for 5 to 18s. It is closed on Friday 2 October for conservation work, so this exhibition’s last chances are 3, 9 and 10 October.
  • Albert Lee, Saturday 10 October, doors 7.30pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £28.50. The Grammy-winning guitarist with his UK band (Brewery Arts).

Later in October

  • Paddling Film Festival 2026, Wednesday 14 October, 7pm, Brewery Arts. £16. Lakeland Canoe Club’s eighth year of paddling films at the venue (Brewery Arts).
  • Small Wonders, Friday 16 October to Saturday 12 December, Kendal Museum, Station Road, LA9 6BT. Ellie Chaney’s mixed-media exhibition on the UK’s insects, with illustration, paper sculptures and artwork visitors can add to (Kendal Museum).
  • Norrie MacIver, Friday 16 October, doors 7.30pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £21.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Shooglenifty, Friday 16 October, doors 8pm, Malt Room, standing. £23.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Chaps Choir and the Growing Singers, Saturday 17 October, doors 7pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £20.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Live/Wire: The AC/DC Show, Saturday 17 October, doors 8pm, Malt Room, standing. £28.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Macbeth, The Met Opera, Tuesday 20 October, 6.30pm, Brewery Arts. £19. Lise Davidsen is Lady Macbeth (Brewery Arts).
  • Martin Simpson: Some Kind of Jubilee Tour, Wednesday 21 October, doors 7.30pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £25.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Peatbog Faeries, Thursday 22 October, doors 7.30pm, Malt Room, standing. £26.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Jason Byrne: 30 Years Byrning, Friday 23 October, 7.30pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £33.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Republica, Friday 23 October, doors 7.30pm, Malt Room, standing. £33.50, with Trampolene in support, age guidance 16+ (Brewery Arts).
  • Poetry Club: Slambria, Wednesday 28 October, doors 7pm, Malt Room. £12. Nine poets compete over three rounds for this year’s Slambria title, featuring REMa Grace Gifford (Brewery Arts).
  • TRIP, Thursday 29 October, doors 7pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £21.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Kendal Farmers Market, Friday 30 October, 8am to 3.30pm, Market Place (Kendal Farmers Market).
  • Comedy Club, Friday 30 October, doors 7pm, Malt Room, cabaret seating, 18+. £16.50. Alex Camp, Louise Leigh and Edward Midgley, with Al Stevenson as MC; the venue says line-ups can change (Brewery Arts).
  • Nick Cope’s Family Show, Saturday 31 October, 11am and 2pm, Brewery Arts. £20, age guidance 3+ (Brewery Arts).
  • El Pony Pisador, Saturday 31 October, doors 7.30pm, Malt Room, standing. £21.50 (Brewery Arts).

Halloween

Our Kendal Halloween page has the full detail, prices and booking rules for everything below.

  • Pumpkin patch, Lakeland Maze Farm Park, Raines Hall, Sedgwick, LA8 0JH. Open every weekend from Saturday 3 October, then daily from Saturday 24 to Saturday 31 October, 10am to 5pm. Patch access comes only with a farm park ticket (£12.16 online, £13.50 at the door, from 3 October), and pumpkins are priced by size (Lakeland Maze).
  • Frightful Family Crafts, Saturday 24 October, 2.15pm to 3.45pm, Brewery Arts Studio 3, for children aged 4 and over with an adult. £6.50, or £12 a person with Hocus Pocus at 4.15pm (Brewery Arts).
  • Halloween at Holker, Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, 10.30am to 4.30pm, Holker Hall & Gardens, LA11 7PL. Pumpkin carving, a ghostly garden trail and monster crafts, £12 a child bought with an adult Gardens ticket; Taffy Thomas storytelling at 11am and 2pm, £5 a person (Holker).
  • Bea-tricks and Bats, Saturday 31 October, 10.30am to 4pm, World of Beatrix Potter, Bowness, LA23 3BX. Decorate a bat box, £6.50 (World of Beatrix Potter).
  • Halloween (15), Saturday 31 October, 8.15pm, Brewery Arts. £7.50, part of Cine-Macabre (Brewery Arts).

Half term at Levens Hall

Levens Hall, five miles south of Kendal at LA8 0PD, is open into November for the first time this year, and its last day of normal opening is Sunday 8 November (Levens Hall). It has three dated family events around Halloween:

  • Halloween ceramic painting, Tuesday 27 October, 11am to 1pm (Levens Hall).
  • Mask workshop, Thursday 29 October, 10am to 11.30am, £17, booked through Bob Sutcliffe Art (Levens Hall).
  • Ghostly House Tours, Thursday 29 October to Sunday 1 November, at 4pm and 5pm, with other Halloween activities (Levens Hall).

November

  • The Uninvited and Kendal Ghost Walk, Sunday 1 November, meet 5.15pm at Brewery Arts Cinema. £19.50. A 75-minute walk through the town’s darker history with guide Simon Kurt Unsworth, then the 1944 film The Uninvited at 7pm; one ticket covers both. Sold out as of 3 October (Brewery Arts).
  • Manon, The Royal Ballet, Tuesday 3 November, 6.30pm, Brewery Arts. £19 (Brewery Arts).
  • Scott Bennett: Blood Sugar Baby, Wednesday 4 November, 7.30pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £24.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Low Wood Bay bonfire and fireworks, Thursday 5 November, display about 7.30pm to 7.45pm, Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa, Ambleside Road, Windermere, LA23 1LP. Gallery Lounge entry is £12.50 including parking; the bonfire dinner, £37.50 an adult and £15 a child up to 12, was marked sold out on 30 September. The resort says the display can be cancelled or postponed in heavy rain or high winds (English Lakes). Our fireworks page tracks the other displays.
  • National Theatre Live: Golden Boy, Thursday 5 November, 7pm, Brewery Arts. £19. Josh O’Connor leads Clifford Odets’ boxing drama, with a repeat on Thursday 12 November (Brewery Arts).
  • Ferocious Dog, Thursday 5 November, doors 7.30pm, Malt Room, standing. £29.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Holker Winter Market, Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November, Holker Hall, Cark-in-Cartmel, LA11 7PL. Holker’s review of the 2025 market calls it the biggest seasonal market in the North West outside Manchester. Tickets and further details are “soon to be released” (Holker Hall). Our Christmas markets page has the others.
  • Hejira: Celebrating Joni Mitchell, Friday 6 November, doors 7.30pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £26.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Cut Capers, Friday 6 November, doors 8pm, Malt Room, standing. £21.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Rioghnach Connolly and Honeyfeet, Saturday 7 November, doors 7.30pm, Malt Room, standing. £22 (Brewery Arts).
  • Remembrance Sunday, Sunday 8 November. A service at the Parish Church, then a two-minute silence at 11am at the war memorial in Market Place (Kendal Town Council). Our Remembrance page has how the morning usually runs.
  • Carmen, The Royal Opera, Tuesday 10 November, 6.30pm, Brewery Arts. £19 (Brewery Arts).
  • Armistice Day, Wednesday 11 November. The Mayor lays a wreath at the war memorial in Market Place (Kendal Town Council).
  • 3000 Feet, with director Q&A, Wednesday 11 November, 7pm, Brewery Arts. £14. The story of Hugh Munro, with director Kevin Woods and producer Lindsay Hill in person (Brewery Arts).
  • Ian Stone: Looking for the Wow, Wednesday 11 November, 8pm, Brewery Arts. £22.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Mad Dog McRea: Dusk Till Dawn, Thursday 12 November, doors 7.30pm, Malt Room, standing. £24.50 (Brewery Arts).
  • Martin McAloon of Prefab Sprout: Steve McQueen, Slight Return, Friday 13 November, doors 7pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £28 (Brewery Arts).
  • Zion Train, Friday 13 November, doors 7.30pm, Malt Room, standing, with North Fire Sound. £26 (Brewery Arts).
  • It’s Nice Up North, with Graham Fellows Q&A, Saturday 14 November, 7pm, Brewery Arts. £15.50. A 20th-anniversary screening of the John Shuttleworth documentary (Brewery Arts).
  • Hayden Thorpe performing the songs of Wild Beasts, Saturday 14 November, 7.30pm, Brewery Arts, seated. £30. Sold out (Brewery Arts).
  • Ultimate Coldplay, Saturday 14 November, doors 8pm, Malt Room, standing. £28.50 (Brewery Arts).

Later in November the diary fills with the Kendal Mountain Festival from 19 to 22 November, Winter at Sizergh from the 20th and the Christmas lights switch-on on Friday 27 November.

Regular events

  • Kendal outdoor market, every Wednesday and Saturday, Market Place, LA9 4TP. The indoor Market Hall is closed for refurbishment (Westmorland and Furness Council).
  • Kendal Farmers Market, the second and last Friday of each month, 8am to 3.30pm, Market Place. The next dates are 9 and 30 October, then 13 and 27 November (Kendal Farmers Market).
  • Fell Foot parkrun, every Saturday at 9am, Fell Foot Park, Newby Bridge, LA12 8NN. A free 5k; register once before your first run (parkrun). Kendal itself has no parkrun.

Send us your event

Running something in Kendal or the south Lakes? Email hello@kendalnews.co.uk with the date, time, venue, price and a photo. Listings are free, and we add them to this page and to the What’s On diary.

Sources