Halloween at The Rocks: Ghost Festival 2026
Halloween at The Rocks: Ghost Festival 2026.
Every October The Rocks goes spooky. Ghost Festival puts a free Halloween night market on Playfair Street, and the weekend market runs its own Ghost in The Rocks edition. In 2026 Halloween falls on a Saturday, right in the middle of it. What is on, when, and how I would do it, from a stallholder on George Street since 2016.
What is Ghost Festival?
Ghost Festival is a Halloween night market in The Rocks. Playfair Street fills with fog and cauldrons, there is a food village of more than twenty stalls, and the market stalls lean handmade: jewellery, candles, snow globes, felt decorations, crochet and leather bags. Churros, fairy floss and warm drinks for a cool spring night.
By day it is family friendly. After dark it gets properly eerie, which is the point. Over the same days there is a separate food and drink event, Bites & Brews, on First Fleet Park and Tallawoladah Lawns, also free.
Halloween on a Saturday.
In 2026 Halloween lands on Saturday 31 October. That puts the full weekend market, the Ghost Festival night market and Halloween itself on the same day, all within a few minutes' walk of each other. Expect it to be busy.
How I would do it: the weekend market in the day while it is calm, a walk round the harbour, then back to Playfair Street when the light goes and the fog comes on. Plenty of stallholders make something just for the event weekends, so it is worth walking the whole of George Street too.
Getting there.
Train, ferry or bus to Circular Quay, then a few minutes' walk. Driving into The Rocks on a Halloween Saturday is not something I would recommend.
For the normal market days and hours, and the rest of the year's big weekends, see the full guide to The Rocks Markets.
Halloween at The Rocks, answered.
When is Halloween at The Rocks in 2026?
Ghost Festival runs Thursday 29 October to Sunday 1 November 2026. Halloween itself is Saturday 31 October.
Is Ghost Festival free?
Yes. The night market and Bites & Brews are both free entry. You only pay for what you eat, drink and buy.
Where is the Halloween market in The Rocks?
On Playfair Street. The food and drink side, Bites & Brews, is on First Fleet Park and Tallawoladah Lawns.
What time does Ghost Festival open?
From 4pm on the Thursday and Friday, earlier on the weekend, running late into the night. Hours differ by day, so check the official listing before you go.
Is Halloween at The Rocks good for kids?
Yes, in the daytime and early evening, when it is a family market. Later at night it is darker and spookier by design.
Are The Rocks Markets on over Halloween weekend?
Yes. The weekend market runs Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm, as a Ghost in The Rocks edition, so you can do the market in the day and Ghost Festival at night.
The Stuga stall, middle of George Street.
Saturday and Sunday, most weekends of the year. Handmade shaving, beard, body and perfume, made in a studio in the Southern Highlands. The stall is the one place you can smell the whole perfume range in one go.
Every place to find Stuga
The market, the studio, and the shops that stock the range.
Where to find usGhost Festival is run by its organisers, not by Stuga. Dates and hours are from the official listing, so check Ghost Festival before you go.