FUNomusica: Halloween Spooktacular

The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra are playing a family concert, the Halloween Spooktacular, in Oxford on Sunday 18 October. It's part of FUNomusica, the orchestra's family strand, which returns three times across the 2026/27 season to introduce children to orchestral music in a lively, accessible way. The Spooktacular is aimed mainly at children aged four to eight, though younger children and siblings are welcome too, and the whole thing is built around a seasonal theme, so it's a good excuse to get the kids dressed up for it.

To give you a bit of context on who's behind it, the Oxford Philharmonic was founded in 1998 by Music Director Marios Papadopoulos. This concert is just one part of a much wider season for them. The 2026/27 run opens with Oxford International Opera's fully staged production of Puccini's Tosca at New Theatre Oxford, and it also launches the Oxford Beethoven Festival 2027, which was created to mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death. Over the course of the season, the orchestra will be playing in cities across Europe and the United States, with guest artists including Sir Bryn Terfel, Martha Argerich, Maxim Vengerov, and Steven Isserlis.

So, while the Halloween Spooktacular is a family-friendly afternoon for the little ones, it's coming from the same orchestra that spends the rest of its year on international stages and with some of the biggest names in classical music. If you've got children in that four-to-eight age bracket, it's a straightforward way to get them into a concert hall without it feeling too formal. The date is Sunday 18 October, in Oxford.